All Forum Posts by: Tony Gonzalez

Stupid question, but is it possible that stray cats been spraying on the outside of the house?

For example, in Jersey City, it's Cat Paradise...and if you leave food and temporary shelter in your backyard for them, they will come and spray the wall to mark their turf. Home office (next to yard) smelt like urine and broken promises for a week. I leave food and temp shelter well away from the home now, lesson learned.

Now, I don't know much about removing cat urine, but when i moved to my apt, the former owner had let their dog pee and crap in the garage (bare, unsealed concrete) so It took me taking a whole gallon of scented bleach, a scrub brush, and lungs of iron, to scrub the smell out.

Curious as to how you will resolve this...

My credit score got floored by bad decisions in my early 20's...I'm paying off all debts and working on getting a secured credit card. Score is creeping up out of the 550's intot he low 600s, still needs about a year or so of work before it can get to 650-700 or so....

Asking myself the same question, nearly daily.

I even put a post up last week about "Hey my friend is selling his house, how should I go about purchasing it..." to which folks on here were candid and said "Son, you ain't ready yet!"

For me, I can't say for anyone else, but for me, it comes down to having a few things lined up:

1 - Financial cushion. Go for broke is sexy on TV and movies, it's not ideal when you have four kids, and a partner who is starting up her own business at the same time, relying on you.

2 - Knowledge. I have have about twenty books I need to read before I even go and start looking for neighborhood deals. Last week, I was leaning towards "Experience will be my teacher." but...that would have been just plain foolish.

3 - Relationship. I am working on establishing relationships with at elast three to four GOOD GCs, agents, and investors. I am shy, and it takes everything out of me to even send emails to folks "Like hey, let's connect".  But nonetheless, I know that these relationships will be invaluable in my first deal. Weed out the sleaze balls, so when the serious money starts to flow, the snakes in the grass are already out of the yard.

4 - Partner being onboard. My partner is my best friend, and she usually has good gut instincts. Balancing between "Happy Wife, Happy Life" and "Take the Risk" is tough, daily, but I am learning to do it.

Hope my story encourages you, good luck and let's link up as fellow newbies!

Look, Ima be honest...

I am a renter, and as such, I have a landlord who drives to my place, about an hour or so, the first weekend of every month to collect his checks. He likes to blabber and chit chat and dawdle (he's a great guy, an OK landlord, and a nice chap to be around) but I kinda don't like having to be home waiting for him to pick up his rent on a Saturday when I could be out with the family.

I've suggested direct deposit to him (we never been late with a payment. Ever.) but he says he prefers this way.

As someone in the tech field, I'd advise you go with a) requiring certified checks mailed to you, or b) direct deposits. Everyone wins with the last one. It's convenient to both you and the tenant, and trackable...so if someone claims to not have the rent, you can always consult with the banks on either side and ask "Who dropped the ball?"

Ouch. Glad i didn't jump into being an agent. Does this number reflect agents who do renting, or agents who do houses?

Hey @Chris K.

 thanks for taking the time to give advice.

After considering it a bit more and running thru preliminary numbers , I am most likely going to sit this one out. 

Hi @NA Jones, you're right. I wrote that post on my way out the door from day job, and I think I skipped some pieces of info because I was in a rush.

So, he told me he was putting the house on the market...and been saying that for a month or so. Finally, he decided to hire a realtor. I let him know that I am starting to network with folks in REI who might be interested.

So, he gives me the number of his realtor.

I call her, asking "Hey, if I could get someone from Jersey or PA or NY to close on the property, would you be interest in say, tossing over a finder's fee?"

She agreed, and at the same time, when I asked her about the numbers (how much property tax, square footage of the house, of the lot, market value in that area) she said that she had not officially met with him to hammer those numbers down. He had just gone to her and said, "I need you to sell my house". Their meeting is supposed to take place Monday or Tuesday next week.

So then I hung up the phone, and I said to myself...hmm...what if I bought the house and broke into REI and rentals that way?

Now, I didn't want to just take over payments because his payments are about $2K per month. The first floor apt is not rented yet as there is some fixing up. And, I am a bit tight with extra spending money. Partner and I don't want to touch our emergency fund for this...

On the other hand, if I offered to take over the payments, I know HE will balk at, because he wants to make a profit off the house. For example...he has about @200K left on the $450K he owes the bank when he first bought it. He wants to see it for about $400-430K, leaving him about $200-230K. After brokers fees and other costs, lets say, a conservative $150K (low end, prolly much more) He wants to take those funds and buy a small apt in the Bronx (which can go for about $100K or less). If I say "Hey, let me take over payments" he won't get a dime, and that will kinda torpedo his plan.

Just a bit of background, I known this dude for like...seven years. When we first became friends, I was fresh out of college, trying to break into IT, so I rented a room from him. In that very same house. He's in dire financial straits at this point, and I'm trying to see what I can do that will a) help him out, b) help me get into REI....

Just to be clear, I do realize I have to pay a mortgage (dunno why I replied that I didn't want a mortage before...musta been a rushed response) LOL.

Thanks for reading all of this :-D

Hi @NA Jones

That is actually an idea I was considering, regarding getting a license, and using it as my first listing. The value of the house would be around $450K, but then again, I am going by what he said the initial estimate was when he purchased it back in 2005. It's in a part of the Bronx that is seeing revitalization, so my assumption is that the value is at, or more than that, price. Also he did a renovation back in 2008, revamped the appliances, plumbing, and wiring.

As for the realtor, when I spoke to her this afternoon, she said she has been trying to sit down with him and hammer out numbers so she can officially list it, but he has been dodging her appointments. Knowing this guy for the past seven years, he does have a habit of making and rescheduling appointments. Even if it's to get his car washed. Go figure.

And yes, my idea was to buy the house from him, crank up the rents a bit to more market rate (3 bedroom apts in NYC go for over $2,300) and startup REI with that. Hopefully my post wasn't confusing.

Ha! That is one way of doing it..

Taking over the payments would really not be beneficial to either of us. He wants to make some kind of profit so he can buy a small apt, and I don't want to pay rent on my own apt and a second mortgage. Yikes.

 *Clapping in the back of the room*