All Forum Posts by: Chris Vacek

I have an apartment that I need to get rented and I need it rented fast!--When it comes time to fill vacancies sometimes you can hit a brick wall.  Cleaning up, taking pictures, writing the perfect listing title are all fairly straight forward; but when it comes to posting these pretty words and pictures online you want to make sure it's EVERYWHERE!

What's your strategy fellow BP'ers?  Craigslist posts?  postlets.com? Just pay a realtor?  I manage my own investments ~30 units.  Spending a little money doesn't scare me if it produces results but I do love a good free resource.  I'm really looking for any suggestions that will limit the amount of time I have to spend filling in blanks and maximize the amount of qualified responses I have to work with.

Lots of legal implications with "late fees" and that is the reason I dont charge late fees...Instead I implement rent discounts for paying on time.  For a 1500 lease the amount on the lease will be around 1600 with a $100 discount if the rent is paid before the 1st.  I find this works better (carrot instead of stick) and also avoids the legal headaches associated with late fees.

I have heard a lot of success stories from the baltimore area so good luck!

Check out spotcrime.com This shows police activity on a map and will give you an idea of how much and what kind of crime the neighborhood is in.

Also give a call to the local police precinct and ask them about the neighborhood.  They will often tell you they are not allowed to tell you if its "good" or "bad" but ask them soome questions anyway and see what they say.

Hey @Douglas Burns I have seen a lot of people looking for rentals in the Dobbs Ferry area lately!  I hear people calling it the Williamsburgh of westchester although that term does get thrown around pretty easily.

Motivated sellers are going to be difficult to find in the current market.  There are a lot of cash buyers and foreign investment in the area and inventory is low.  Upcoming changes in China's taxation policy also has a lot of chinese/american investors buying up multifamilies as a way to avoid cap gains taxes.

That being said the good deals are still there they just don't last long and seeing multiple offers is becoming commonplace.

As a licensed agent in the area I would be happy to set you up with MLS access so you can see whats available and get an idea of market values. Just shoot me a PM and I'm happy to set you up.

Welcome to BP and good luck!

Thanks for the additional info.  I have never developed a marketing plan for a new community unfortunately...plenty of experience with branded product campaigns but nothing for an entire community but it seems exciting.

With your target market being  employees of nearby businesses I would suggest getting in touch with their HR departments and offering incentives to either the employer or employees.

But that's just one idea.  Your looking for the whole shebang.

Scott-

Born and raised fellow Orange Countian here :)

My thought is if you are uncomfortable with owner financing why not rent to own?  This will alleviate the risk and you can still get some passive income from the place.

I'm currently operating farther south in westchester but my mom is also an agent and either one of us would be happy to chat with you.  Both of us are involved in investment properties so this is right up our alley.

Risk vs reward can be a difficult thing to determine and I would want to know a bit more about your goals.  Feel free to PM me with your contact info if you would like to chat.

Thanks,

Numbers look good to me.  I would just want to verify the rent roll and make sure to do due diligence during inspections.

This is easy.  You just go into the future and see where the market is and use that information to make your decision.

All jokes aside there are going to be a number of factors depending on what your market area is time frame etc.  Make sure to narrow your focus so you aren't getting information overload.  If your plan is to flip you are looking for short term market upticks.  If your going with a B&H strategy you are going to want to focus on more long term.  Are your properties all in the same geographic area?  Are they spread out across the midwest?

I too would be interested in hearing what some of the macro and micro indicators investors on this site are using.

This might be worth a perusal:  http://www.investopedia.com/university/releases/ho...

Hey All,

Just wondering if anyone in this group of intelligent people has any advice regarding preliminary search when researching property information.  As an agent I have found that different municipalities have wildly different standards when it comes to public information regarding a property.  My particular method unfortunately is grab a chair, photo copy everything, and spend a lot of time trying to decipher exactly what the "official" stats on a building are.

Anyone have a time saving idea for going about this?  Anyone have a guide that points out the major things you should look for( im talking about structural info like number of rooms sq ft etc etc)?   I have been working with more and more investors lately and would love to be able to point them towards something that teaches them how to do the research rather than just burying myself in paperwork for the day.

Thanks in advance for your informed opinions!

Congrats on the recent success!  Where exactly in upstate NY is this?  I have heard upstate described as westchester to buffalo depending on who is talking.