All Forum Posts by: Eric Maury

Over the last few months I’ve been managing around 5 properties myself and its becoming overwhelming. I still work a full time job and its taking a lot away from my other projects. I would like to continue to add properties but don’t know if my cash flow really requires it or i just hit a rough patch. Any advice? Any recommendations in Jersey Cit

Hi guys,

Looking for some advice. Recently had an offer accepted on a 3 unit in Jersey City, NJ. It's my 2nd investment property, and I now have 5 units. When I talked to my accountant, she discussed putting my portfolio under an LLC umbrella so I can take full advantage of the tax breaks and depreciation. Right now, as it is, I'm against the wall on the depreciation cap but do want to take full advantage of write offs for both of my properties. However, when I talked to my lender, I found out that trying to put the entire thing in an LLC would throw a huge wrench in my plans and the banks wouldn't offer me the same type of loan or down payment. So here we are... trying to creatively problem solve.

Wondering if anyone has approached this conundrum in another way. Are there any loop holes where a Property Management LLC can write off some of the expenses during tax time. I'm not out here trying to screw Uncle Sam, but definitely want to see if anyone has dealt with this issue and get some perspective.

Hey guys, 

I'm a part time investor, right now I own two units and I'm looking to expand. I recently connected with a developer and we've decided to go in on a property together. Last night he brings me in on a deal. It's a fully renovated 2 unit that we're looking to convert into an illegal 3. All in all the investment would require, call it 50K but netting conservatively 24k a year. 

The deal he's offering is that I cover the entire cost of the 5% down deposit and renovation cost (closing, miscellaneous, etc.) and in return, we each pull 12k annually. I'm wondering if this deal seems like i'm giving up too much. 

On one hand, he did the back end to bring me on to the deal, and will manage the reno and property and it will be under my name so all tax benefits will be on my end. On the other hand, I'm putting all the money down for this deal and am splitting income with someone with not a cent down. Even at those figures we're talking a 20-25% ROI and i'll see my money back in probably under 4 years with minimal work. But really looking to get some outside perspectives on this before I sign the dotted line.

Thanks guys, appreciate it!

@Jedd Braunwarth Thanks for the feedback. Currently I own in Jersey City, NJ. I contacted my water company and said that I could submeter but that responsibility is on me. Not even too sure that they'd be willing to send out the different bills, feel like regardless of RUBS or Submeter, I'm going to need to be the one to charge for utilities. The difficulty ins sub metering is that I don't believe that my plumbing is split by unit. My fear is that I'll have to rip up the house and repipe the place when right now it's pulling me in good cash flow and has stable tenants. 

Just taking a quick look at your profile, feel like you're a real expert on this. I'm sure it's hard to estimate cost, but what kind of return do you typically see from sub-metering? Would a plumber be able to install a RUBS and do you happen to know typically how much they run? 

Thanks again for all the feedback! Much appreciated. 

Hi Guys, 

First time turning to BiggerPockets but love the community and could really use some feedback. Right now I own a multifamily--2 units--1 2br, 1 1br with a shared washer/dryer in house. My water bill is being run up every quarter, and I'm paying over $500 each bill. They're using over 130% of the average usage rate and I don't want to continue to float this bill. 

Recently I started to look into sub metering or installing RUBS but both options seem to have issues. The sub-meter seems to be expensive, and I really don't want to take on a few thousand dollar expense to do this. The Radio Utility Billing System seems really affordable and logical but I can't find a company to do this for such a small unit size. Does anyone have any advice, has anyone been in this type of predicament? 

Any and all help is appreciated, running out of options right now.