All Forum Posts by: Frank Pulice

@Neil Wei

Don’t be discouraged. House hacking is a great starting point. If the rents can offset what you’d pay to rent your own place then you could consider that as positive cash flow.

We purchased a triplex 6 years ago and, at first, we were contributing 50% of the building expenses but it was still less than what we would pay to rent in the New York City area. But, over time, we have been able to raise rents and now the two units cover all the building expenses plus a little cash flow essentially living for free in an expensive urban market while making some extra to put aside for maintenance and repairs that may come up.

In addition, the appreciation in value has also raised our equity to more than 50% LTV.

The sooner you can get into a house hacking situation the better off you’ll be in the future. You have to be in it for the long term.

@Maurice Evans

Don’t discount parts of Hudson County NJ like Jersey City, Union City, Weehawken, West New York, both Bergen or even Bayonne.

Commuter times from these areas are comparable and sometimes a lot more convenient to Manhattan which I’d good for renters.

Prices on small multi family are better than in almost any area of NYC.

Good luck!

@April Tsotsos

Thanks for bringing this up. Yes it’s definitely a different game for those of us not in our 20’s and 30’s.

Loved reading everyone’s responses.

@Samuel Hudson

You could consider being an owner occupant until it’s rent deregulated though you’d have to confirm how long you would need to do this as I believe the rules recently changed.

You could look into turning into condos. I’ve seen several three unit buildings in weehawken recently converted.

Otherwise, if it was investor owned (not owner occupied) and under rent regulations before you purchased it those rules would still apply. That should have probably been disclosed to you prior to purchasing.

@Nick Louie

Looking for a PM as well. Please let me know if you found anyone.

@Victor Han

You should contact the building Dept at town hall. They can answer all your questions.

A lot will depend on how you are purchasing the new building. Rules differ if you are buying it as your primary residence or as an investment property.

I'm a RE News junkie, but it can be confusing. So much of the news right now is about falling sales of SFH and what I would think are owner occupied dwellings like condos or large commercial and investment portfolio sales.

Where does that leave small 2-4 unit buildings? Interest rates are up, but rents in most major markets are exceeding mortgage rate increases.

What does the BP community think about the current state of this segment of the market?

@Michael Williams

I do give my tenants Christmas gifts. I believe being a landlord is a customer service industry. Renters are spending tens of thousands of dollars a year at your business. If you ran a shop or other service related business you would probably thank your good customers at the end of the year with a small token of appreciation.

@Dan Ashley

I’m a native Brooklynite and love seeing how far Brooklyn has come since growing up there in the 70’s but I was very frustrated when, after living in Manhattan for 20 years, I wanted to move back. I too wanted a small multi where I could house hack but the asset prices were way too high. I kept looking further and further out to find an affordable place where the commute to the city was an hour +.

Out of frustration one day I expanded my search to include Hudson County NJ and found that there were great neighborhoods with multi family buildings perfect for house hacking. Jersey City, Weehawken, Union City, West New York all offer great commutes into Manhattan with a wide variety of properties that are priced below anything you’ll find in Brooklyn. And the rental market is very healthy.

We ended up with a beautiful three unit building That's ten minutes to midtown where the rental income covers our entire PITI allowing us to save our income for a future investment property.

I’d encourage you to check it out. Take the Path the Jersey City or a bus to Weehawken or Union City one weekend and walk around. These neighborhoods remind me of Greenpoint and Williamsburg 10-15 years ago before they became super gentrified.

https://apple.news/AJOzx0Qr6R_Oqu4PQ2aPQvg