All Forum Posts by: Daniel Gonzalez

@Humble Wellington congrats on the purchase. The tenant is correct in NJ it's 30 days written notice unless the local ordinance stipulates something else. I would let them know that the rent increase will take place on May 1. If you want to increase the security deposit accordingly, do it then as well. 

@Peter Cecinini very informative. Thank you for taking the time to put this together. 

@Kathy Moser I needed one from my tenant when I opened up an account for the security deposit. In NJ you're supposed to put the security deposit into an interest-bearing account in their name. There are specifics for 10 or more units vs owner-occupied etc. but, it seems your landlord is just trying to do things by the book. 

@Christopher Lim I'm not sure of the exact cost of splitting the meters but in my opinion, it isn't worth it for a duplex. You probably have the main that comes in from the street and then feeds the fixtures. If you only have that 1 riser it'll be harder to split everything without opening up walls and running new lines. You would need 2 risers, one to feed each unit, if you have that it should be much easier to split.

Keep in mind many rentals in North Jersey include water with the rent. By doing this you may put yourself at a disadvantage compared to other rentals in your area. 

If you think you're spending too much on the water it could be a leaky fixture. Try installing more efficient fixtures in both units. 

If your set on billing for water, look into RUBS(ratio utility billing system). I believe this is popular for larger multis but maybe you can use it for a duplex. Good luck. 

@Joseph Antwi Just sent you a message.

@Joseph Antwi Hi Joseph welcome to BP and congrats on taking the first of many steps on the REI journey. Since you don't have kids yet you could look into Jersey City, it's very easy to get into NYC, there are a lot of multi-families, and once things go back to normal there is a good food scene. If you prefer more of a suburb check out towns in Bergen county such as Rutherford, Ridgewood, Oradell, or Essex county such as Maplewood, South Orange, or Montclair.

These are just a few of the towns that come to mind but they are plenty to get you started. Good luck. 

@Michael Carman I've done tax searches in the past with some success. The owner's name and address (if different from the investment property) are listed. You can also try NJ Parcels. 

Best of luck.

@Andrew Combine I'm in a househack now and when I was first analyzing deals I was in Hoboken paying high rent. My barometer was to have a PITI similar to or lower than my rent at the time. My thinking was if I had a vacancy I could absorb the cost and carry it like it was rent. After that initial test, I looked at the numbers as a pure rental and made sure it covered PITI, other expenses, and of course cash flowed.

Start by finding deals and running the numbers. See if the PITI is 2700 a month or less. After that check to see if it'll still cash flow and be a good deal when you move out. If it doesn't work in the long run you could always househack to save capital and then sell the property later on. It's a great way to get started in real estate in my opinion.

@Jobee Vincent Buenaventura you're on the site right now. Biggerpockets has a BRRRR calculator that you can use. All their calcs are very good, just make sure you input accurate figures.

@Jobee Vincent Buenaventura Can your realtor pull comps for you? that's the only way to get a more accurate idea about ARV. Did you run your numbers at the refi rate with the higher mortgage principle? Your payment will go up and that might affect the $500/mo profit you projected. You'll also need to pay closing costs when you refi. You could wrap those up into the loan but all that does is increase your principle and make your monthly payment higher. If it works with your numbers then go for it.

I'm guessing you have a pretty conventional loan so to refi from that to another one shouldn't be difficult. Remember your loan isn't for 390k you put 20% down so your actual loan is 312k which is about 74% of the appraised value, you almost have 30% equity in the property. 

A final note, when I looked to refi, I was told I could get up to 85%LTV