All Forum Posts by: Christopher Prince-Barry

They finally issued after 2 months! 

@Alyse Oz Which company were you working with? Would you dm the name to me?

Konstantin,  How did you do on the sale? I am running into a similar issue where the price goes up with every move i make. Which company were you working with? Feel free to dm that info to me.

Details are here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

Hi BP family,

I need help in figuring out a path forward. What would you do?

Background:

Purchased 7/26 triplex in Orange NJ for $296k with a conventional 30y mortgage in my name. 2 oil tanks were onsite before purchase. ~27k was put in escrow for removal and soil remediation.

Current Scenario:

After removing the tanks, the oil tank company hired by seller determined that the remediation is more substantial then estimated. No evidence of ground water or bedrock, but the plume is bigger than first thought. They went from an estimate of ~$10k to ~$100k. Their strategy is to go after the insurance company that insured the tanks years ago. They plan to age date the soil back to when the insurance was in place. They are not 100% the insurance will pay out.

I can not close the tank permit without a No Further Action letter (NFA) from the state. I cannot get a CO with the permit open and cannot rent the units. My holding costs are bleeding me dry in the meantime.

If the insurance company honors the claim it will still take several months to get an NFA. If they don't it will still take months to find that out. Then what? It doesnt make any sense to pay $100k out of pocket to get this resolved.

I have learned a ton in getting to this point and now fully understand why oil tanks turn people away, but what can i do going forward? It will be a major setback to continue paying a mortgage on a non performing property for a year or worse, pay $100k out of pocket.

Does anyone have any creative ideas?

Ask the town for permission to rent in lieu of the NFA?

Somehow shift this and the missing rent back to the seller?

I am taking action to move this forward, but the path ahead is BLEAK!

I understand we are in difficult times. I am hoping to understand what my options are. I submitted permit applications for building, plumbing and electrical to Orange NJ seven weeks ago. When submitted they noted covid was affecting them but they were not backed up. They estimated four weeks for review.

In the last couple of weeks my contractor has called (voicemail is full) and emailed every few days to get an update. I emailed last week and cc'd all building department emails I could find. My goal is not to apply pressure necessarily, but I do need to know when it will be reviewed.

Are there limits in how long the process can take? Is there any recourse? I dont want to piss off the city workers where I will own property for years :)

What would you do?

@John Teachout. I could put thermostats in each unit but they would control the same furnace.

I'm buying my first multifamily. It's in Orange NJ. It's a legal 3 family on tax records, but utilities aren't split between 2nd and 3rd floors. That includes, heat, hot water and electricity. Am I still able to rent them separately?

2nd floor is a 2/1 i'm converting to 3/1 and 3rd floor is a 1/1.

Bonus question: Would section8 count them as two units or one?

@Elizabeth L. Thank you. Which contractor did this and which saved the day?

@George W.

Thanks for your reply George.

I am almost out of attorney review on my first tear down ground up build in Essex NJ. I’m trying to keep this dream from turning into a nightmare.

What advice do you have?

Where do new construction projects typically stall or go wrong?

What is price per square foot have your projects cost in Northern NJ?

Can you recommend any great quality, efficient decently priced trades/GCs? Especially demo crews.

If it's helpful the estimated ARV is $950k for a new 3900sqft house.

Thanks all. The BP community is the best!!