All Forum Posts by: Christopher Stanis

Hey @Ryan Titus.

Glad to see you on the forums. If you're in the area for a few months longer, you may want to check out our local Real Estate Investors Club. We meet in Binghamton the 4th Tuesday of the month. While a number of our members come from Broome County, we also get quite a few out of Elmira and Ithaca. Even if you only check out a few meetings, you will definitely learn something to take with you. Shoot me a message if you'd like to check it out!

Originally posted by @Rebecca Mochel:

I found a 4 unit fully rented in Endicott NY where in 1979 there was a chemical spill. The clean up has been going on for several years. I did not know anything about this till after I put down an offer and hired a lawyer. My lawyer alerted me to the plume. Should I walk away this is my first endeavor into becoming a landlord. Thanks

Hi, @Rebecca Mochel! We had a home inspector come and speak to the Southern Tier REI Club a while back, and we discussed the IBM Plume at that meeting. My understanding is that it's very similar to deal with for homeowners as is radon. Everyone living in the area has municipal water - no worries there. What happens with the chemicals from the plume is that they vaporize over a long period of time, and the gas vapors come up into a basement. Apparently, the vapors can be drawn away from the house with the same type of system used to relieve radon from basements. Many if not most of the homes in the area have radon/ vapor mitigation systems in the basement.

While I personally wouldn't live in the Endicott plume zone- (the neighborhood isn't super classy besides the chemicals) - I would be more than comfortable to own rental property down there, even if it was as my first purchase in the Binghamton area. What I would suggest- have your home inspector advise you about whether the mitigation system is present/ working etc. If there is no mitigation system in place, I would negotiate that off the purchase price. Last time I had a quote for a system installation, I believe it ran about $1500. 

Hope this helps, and good luck. 

There are pretty much no clauses in the former owner's lease agreement. It was impressively terrible. His lease literally fit onto half a sheet of paper- basically it stated what the rent was, and that tenants could be evicted if they didn't pay, or sold drugs out of their house. No transfer clauses, etc. 

Thanks @Mike Cumbie. Our inherited tenants are actually on a month to month lease. Which, speaking of, is what we also use for our newly installed tenants. I can see that threatening a rent increase could be a good motivator. 

Hello BP Community!

What steps would you take to get inherited tenants to sign on to a new lease? 

My brother and I recently purchased a mobile home park in Williamsport PA. Most of our tenants have met with our management team and signed our leases. We have several tenants owning their own mobile home that have refused to sign a new lease. They are up to date on rent. However, the previous owner's lease could be fit onto a napkin, and includes very little of the legal protections important to us in a lease. 

What steps would you take to get tenants owning their own home to sign a new lease? Is threatening a 30 day notice too extreme? Thanks BP!

@Gini Vidal, 

That would be a big help if you would like to create some community posts for us. I will need to verify our meeting location for next month, I'll shoot you a PM after if you'd like to help us post the event. Thanks!

Michael DiDonato , in Pennsylvania and NY states where I invest, taxes come out twice per year. In the spring, we get the city/county taxes, and the school taxes come in the fall. Looking at your schedule, #1and 2 from 2016 are Probably county/city taxes, and 3 &4 are school taxes. Add 1 and 3 together, that's your total tax bill for the year.

Hi @Roger Garnett. Thanks for the heads up about creating an event page on BP. It looks like they require an upgrade to Pro Level to post there. Upcoming meetings this year will Be: 

March 28th ;   April 25th

May 23rd   ;    June 27th

July 25th ;    August 22nd

September 26th    ;    October 24th

I'll add a post to this thread if we set a new meeting location. 

@Neil Palmquist yes- we are still meeting the 4th Tuesday of the month. The Brother's 2 Restaurant closed its doors in February, so our location this month is at 138 Front St, Binghamton- at a venue called "The Hive". We may have some finger food, and a few take out menus, although it may be a good idea to eat before coming. 

The meeting starts at 6pm for networking time, and 7pm begins the speaker portion of the meeting. My suggestion is to get there earlier than 7 to find parking. If you shoot me a PM with your email I can add you to the group's email list. Thanks!

Hey Robert. our next meeting is Tuesday, March  28th, at 138 Front St, in Binghamton. Meeting is 6-7pm for networking time and 7pm starts the speaker portion of the meeting. Our meetings are always the 4th Tuesday of the month, although we may move locations in the future. We'd be glad to have you join us. Please shoot me a PM with you email address, and I'll make sure your on our mailing list.