All Forum Posts by: Daniel Sobsey

HI BP Forum,

Myself and a few partners just closed on a 2-unit multi family in North Bergen, NJ. The bottom unit was previously owner occupied and they were paying utilities for the entire building since there was only one meter. During closing, the top unit was kept month to month however before we rent the bottom-unit we need to find a way to split the utility bills by unit. Few questions:

- What are the estimated costs to add another meter so we have one meter for the top and one for the bottom unit?

- How long does this operation take?

- If we were to keep 1 meter, is there an equitable way to split up the utility bills for each unit?

- Has anybody else had a similar situation and how did you resolve it?

Thanks all. 

1. What are the tax implications of being personally on the title of a home (along with 3 others) vs. through ownership of an LLC that holds the title? What has better tax benefits? Since this is a rental property, will we be taxed on any rental income directly yearly (based on percent ownership)?

2. Do tax benefits of rolling income from sale of rental real estate property into purchase of a new property still apply to holding partial ownership of a property individually and not through an LLC?

3. Are there any major liabilities we should be aware of that come with owning rental real estate property directly vs. through an LLC?

4. Is having 4 people on a mortgage possible?

Hi All,

I'm starting a real estate investment group along with 3 of my friends. We recently received our letter of pre-approval from our mortgage broker and will begin searching for a multi-family investment property within the $350K to $400K range. We are searching for a property within Northern NJ (very likely Hudson County) so it's been difficult to find a cash flow positive property that fits our price range & criteria. Our ultimate aim is to acquire this property, build equity, and learn the ropes of property management; we have a long term vision of turning this group into a full-time business. 

I was hoping to receive some guidance as to how to expand our business past the first investment. We are all W2 employees with solid credit and incomes however this first acquisition will drain most of the cash we have. Any guidance or thoughts would be appreciated. Happy to discuss more details as well. 

-Dan