All Forum Posts by: Bob Mastroianni

Hey Mike,

I wrote a blog post a few weeks back about how I used the the process for a Buy, Renovate & Hold property. Check it out. I hope this helps. I found the process to be much easier to deal with than the banks. Closing was quicker, draws were quicker, etc... But (there's always a But), everything comes at a cost. Make sure the numbers work. Good Luck!

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/8486/50473-how...

Hey @Matthew Gundersen Congrats on taking some steps to start your Investing career. I'm looking in similar markets to you. I would definitely find out from the local municipalities any restrictions or requirements that they have for landlords. I know that you mentioned Glassboro, they have some interesting laws about parking that you'll want to make sure you are up-to-date on before making a purchase in that area. Example, you need to have one off-street parking space for every adult that you are renting to. So if you're looking for student rentals, you may be looking at a 4 BR house, but if it only has 2 parking spaces, you can only put 2 students in there. Anyway, I always suggest checking with the local municipality about landlord/tenant requirements before looking so you know what you are up against. 

Do you still have these or have you already moved them?

Hi John,

I am a realtor & real estate investor. I have rental properties in Fishtown & Port Richmond, so I have a very good knowledge of the area. The company that I work for is a full service real estate company. We have a property management team that will help find the right tenants & also manage those tenants and properties. We also have a team that can assist with an renovations or repairs that you may need. We often help investors buy, rehab & rent their properties.

Hi @Kristin Linderman Welcome to BP. Sorry if I'm a little late to the party here, but I just came across your post. I have investment properties in Phila & SJ. I also bought a 2-unit in North Wildwood about 2 years ago that I full renovated & am now renting regularly. I would definitely be interested in being added to your wholesale list of investors for properties in that area. I will send you a colleague request, let's connect.

Bob

I read The Millionaire Real Estate Investor by Gary Keller & have been calculating my own net worth every month. It has really been an eye opening experience for me. I just posted a blog about it last week & have had a few friends reach out and thank me for the info. 

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/8486/50716-i-track-my-net-worth-every-month-and-so-should-you

Hi Yvette Chung welcome to bigger pockets. This is a great place to meet people in the real estate industry. Make sure you take advantage of all of the free education that is offered here. I'm also in SJ & Philly. If there is anything I can do to help your business, please feel free to contact me.

Wow! Interesting feedback, I'm feeling like I was lucky in my situation. I had a tenant offer to do some work on the unit he was moving into for a reduced rent. He paid $50 less per month than the property was listed for. We agreed in writing to all of the items he was going to fix & also that the price of the rent decrease was only good for the current 12 month lease. He did everything that he promised to do & increased the value of my unit. He definitely did more than $600 worth of work, which is the amount of rent I credited him. It was also good to have a handy person in the house, when other problems came up I paid him a fair price to do the repairs. He has since purchased his own home & moved out, but it worked out well for me.

I agree with the post above. There are 3 Habitat for Humanity Re-Store's that are fairly close. One is in Burlington County, another in Pennsauken & the third is in Pitman (probably the closest). Those stores can be hit or miss from time to time, but I've found a good amount of materials to help with some of my rehabs. Oftentimes, contractors will donate any leftover materials to the Re-Store & any money that they sell them for will go to Habitat for Humanity. It's not uncommon to find things like 5 gallon buckets of paint for discounted prices. I hope this helps.

I'm also in Thorofare, if there's anything that I can help you with, please feel free to contact with me. 

I use SmartMove for all of my background checks. Before using them, I didn't really have a set formula for rent to income ratio. When setting up the accounts, SmartMove requires me to make a selection. I did a little bit of research and found that in my area most landlords require that salary is 3X rent, so that is the ratio that I use. I also make it a point to let prospects know this before I even show the property. You'd be surprised how many people inquire about properties without even considering what they can really afford.