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All Forum Posts by: Michael G.

Michael G. has started 37 posts and replied 340 times.

Post: Whats the most effective way to recover past due rent?

Michael G.Posted
  • Wholesaler
  • Bay Shore, NY
  • Posts 359
  • Votes 199

Hello Stephan - Stings a little doesn’t it? A lot of us landlords go through exactly what you are going through. Most of us learn just like you…the hard way. As for the recovery of lost rent, I’ll get to that in a minute.

My last episode with an eviction included some sob story about something or the other. I echo the other posters sentiment. You gotta get the 1st rent and the security deposit my friend. No if’s ands or buts.

Tenants are super creative with their stories. Whatever you do....don’t take any stories as substitute for the rent. EVER. If the rent is late you need to serve the 3 day notice (or whatever it is in your jurisdiction) IMMEDIATELY. If they pay. Great. If they don’t then you have to follow through with the eviction. Every day that you give them a pass leads to a further delay in your eviction process. So if they say "Don't worry Mr. Haas. I'll have the rent in a week. (They won’t)" you just delayed yourself a week in your eviction process. Which means you are that much further away from getting yourself a new tenant. You have to follow the process or you will get the short end of the stick.

Good luck with trying to recover the back rent. First you have to find out where they skipped off to so you can have them served them with papers. Then if you have to find out where they now work so you can have their wages garnished. It’s a royal PITA.

The best offense is a good defense. Don't deviate from the rules or you will have smaller pockets not bigger pockets.

If you are unfamiliar with your local eviction process, get familiar with it. Find yourself an attorney that won’t charge you a retainer just to explain the eviction process to you and consider using that attorney to file your evictions. Like another poster mentioned, if you don't follow the letter of the law you will spin your wheels and waste valuable time and effort doing what you thought was right the wrong way…just to have your case dismissed. All while these crafty tenants are living in your property. It will make you sick to your stomach.

I wish I could say I haven’t but I’ve been down this road a few times since 2005 and have been burned repeatedly trying to do the right thing and cut my story telling tenants a break. Hint – The better the story sounds. The quicker you should get that 3 day notice ready.

Simple motto I live by. You don’t pay…you don’t stay!

Post: Investing While on the Road

Michael G.Posted
  • Wholesaler
  • Bay Shore, NY
  • Posts 359
  • Votes 199

The advantage while traveling I would think is that you can actually look at properties in the regions you are travelling to. By sharing your travel destinations with us, the BP community can tell you if there are desireable areas to invest,  in or near those locations. By the time you get feedback from BP nation you can schedule some time to meet with realtors to show you properties.

This whole point is a moot one if your interest is in investing in the NYC area.

Post: Newbie from Brooklyn New York going in...finally!!

Michael G.Posted
  • Wholesaler
  • Bay Shore, NY
  • Posts 359
  • Votes 199

@Daniel C. I hear Jamaica Queens is on the upswing residentially and comercially.

Might be worrth looking into for ground floor opportunities.

Could be the next Williamsburg.

http://queenstribune.com/jamaica-revealed-bright-future-for-seq-nabe/

Post: 100K In My Hand. Looking for Advice, Partnering Idea?

Michael G.Posted
  • Wholesaler
  • Bay Shore, NY
  • Posts 359
  • Votes 199

Hello James,

You should be able to make some nice profit on that 100k doing flips right on Long Island especially in Suffolk County.

The barriers to entry are much lower than the high cost NYC real estate market.

I previously owned 4 properties in the City of Rochester. All of them 2 units. Without fail every single property management company (one of them was mentioned byMatt Harris) I've hired has had issues with at least one or more of the following issues:

a) Creating repairs and invoices for fictitious repairs.

b) Charging us for repairs done to another property.

c) Not managing the tenants properly in terms of them paying the rent late. i.e. - US- What happened to Mays rent? THEM - Oh, we forgot to tell you that the tenant is having some issues and said they won’t be able to pay till June.

d) Not communicating the cost of repairs and charging us for them unexpectedly. i.e. - the stove broke we had to replace it.

I've learned that property managers need managing. Left unattended the tendency is for them to use your rent rolls as a license to print money.

I've gone through 3 different property management companies in Rochester and 3 different PM's in Allentown PAand it almost seems like there is a common theme amongst them which is that they know you are an out of town investor and the likelihood of you showing up to inspect your property is very, very low. The further away the better it seems.

I've taken some precautions lately like asking for a phone call prior to making any repair more than $100. Asking for before and after photos of repair work that needs to be done. Closely watching the expense column for charges (hidden, mistaken and otherwise)

You also have to be very careful about the contracts they use. Some will charge you a PM fee even if you have a vacancy. Where is the logic in that? They say it’s because they still have to manage the property. Whatever. There are other conditions in their contracts (like charging you a tenant placement fee even if you find a tenant on your own) that are not in your best interest so review the contracts carefully before you sign.

When using PM's I take some precautions  like asking for a phone call prior to making any repair more that $100. Asking for before and after photos of repair work that needs to be done. Closely watching the expense column for charges (hidden, mistaken and otherwise)

Post: Flipping vs Brrr in Long Island NY

Michael G.Posted
  • Wholesaler
  • Bay Shore, NY
  • Posts 359
  • Votes 199

@Anthony Ceraldi and @Kevin Ro:

Gents - I'm not sure how you are acquiring properties but if you are going the REO route of course you're going to be face with a lot of competition.

If neither of you are licensed realtors then you can't compete with those investors who are and can make extra income on the back end of the deal by paying themselves a commission on their own flips.

As a wholesaler I come across distressed properties on LI all the time that are off-market, private purchase and sale deals. No realtors. Usually 3 or 4 /1 or 2's, in good middle income neighborhoods. Mostly Suffolk County but I'm sure you are ok with that. Either inherited or under some type of financial or physical duress where it doesn’t make sense for them to call a realtor. I typically negotiate the price so it makes sense for rehabbers like you to make a healthy profit. Now what is healthy profit vs. unhealthy profit is in the eyes of each investor. If you are looking for $30K -$50K profits per deal (NET) with the occasional $60K+ then we are speaking the same language. If you are looking for more than that on each flip, my inventory probably won’t help you much.

PM me if you want to discuss further.

Post: New Investor from New York

Michael G.Posted
  • Wholesaler
  • Bay Shore, NY
  • Posts 359
  • Votes 199

Hello Alvina - Welcome to BP! Let me know if you ever want to partner on any deals. I know plenty of rehab investors in the Brentwood area.

Post: Bandit Signs

Michael G.Posted
  • Wholesaler
  • Bay Shore, NY
  • Posts 359
  • Votes 199

www.signstapler.com

Post: Bandit Signs?

Michael G.Posted
  • Wholesaler
  • Bay Shore, NY
  • Posts 359
  • Votes 199

@Natalie Barber - Its a great idea! One of the easiest ways to get the phone ringing and start generating seller leads. The easiest way to put them up is to use a tool. I've never used banditsignsolutions.com but it looks like it would work pretty good. The trick is to get them as high on the pole as possible. The higher the they are the less likely they are going to be taken down by the local code enforcement agency or whoevers job it is to take signs down. I use the the tool at signstapler.com. I use a 2 foot step stool along with it so the signs go nice and high.

Putting them out with wire stakes is much easier. I like the 30 inch stakes because the signs just look so much more prominent sticking out of the ground that way but the 15 inch ones work also.

Post: Bandit signs

Michael G.Posted
  • Wholesaler
  • Bay Shore, NY
  • Posts 359
  • Votes 199

@Shabyna Stillman - I paid $60 for someone to put out 45 signs last week. I think more along the lines of 1 dollar per sign but I wanted to compensate the guy for driving around in a big SUV and the gas he was using. I text the guy a list of the locations where I wanted signs and then drove by and spot checked. Lo and behold a lot of the locations I gave him, my signs were not there so I had to make him go back and put the signs in those locations. 

Like @Jay Johnson, I used to do them myself and still do when I have time but putting out bandit signs is NOT the highest and best use of my time. I don't know about you Jay but I had to wait until 2-3 in the morning so I could put the signs out without obstructing traffic. The guy I hired to put them out, did it in the middle of the day and quite frankly I'm not even sure I know how he did it without obstructing traffic.

I leave my signs out. I've never received a citation for doing so. A few times some concerned citizens have called and wanted my name and told me I couldn't put signs up in their neighborhoods and please take them down immediately. I left them up.

Some of my signs stay in some locations for 5 – 6 weeks at a time so taking them down just doesn’t really make sense to me especially since there is no consequence for leaving them there.

Unlike @Seth Teel, I have had tremendous success generating revenue from bandit sign marketing and always have and always will recommend it to wholesalers as a tool to get the phone ringing. I have had less success with hand written signs for generating seller leads. The printed ones however work every time.

Sorry Shabyna - I know you just asked about the cost of paying someone to put out signs. I just couldn't resist chiming in on some of the other bandit sign commentary.