All Forum Posts by: Christopher Lombardi

I would get an Estopple Letter from each tenant.  The estopple letter would allow you to find out from the tenant where his deposit is and for how much.  You don't want to close on the property and find out later that not only did the seller take the security money, but your tenants aren't paying rent and you have to actually return money to them that is long gone.  

How difficult it will be to evict the tenants depends on the jurisdiction, but I understand NY is a very tenant friendly jurisdiction. 

I'm wondering if anyone has recently been able to get an unsecured line of credit for purchasing real estate.  I know this was very doable before the crash but they seem to be hard to come by right now.  Does anyone on the east coast know of any lenders offering something like that to experienced investors?

Great question Cheri,  I manage some properties for 3rd party owners in PA and NJ.  If its a single family home, we usually do 10% of gross collected rents and 1/2 month leasing fee, which always gets paid to the agent who placed the tenant.  For multifamily, it depends on the amount of units and quality of the building and neighborhood, but we have done 6% for a 50 unit building in a nice town and also charge the 1/2 month so the agents can get paid.  

Hope that helps,

Chris

I had a similar issue with a two family I had with a huge 3rd floor that could only be used as "storage."   A township can't complain to you that your storage space is too nice, right?   So I connected it to the 2nd floor unit with a beautiful staircase, put in hardwood floors, and stored some really furniture and a big tv up in the various rooms.  It was approved by the inspectors because it was to code, but tenants were free to spend as much time in their "storage" rooms as they liked.  

Real estate isn't rocket science and there are more than enough books and online resources to teach you everything you need to feel confident enough to dive in.  Start with a less expensive property so you won't be risking as much.  But do not pay 10k for someones expert advice.  Chances are, if they are charging that much for the class they are nothing more than con artists looking to rip you off.  

Kevin,

Your best best is probably to look into commercial mortgages. You would need to set up an LLC, or similar entity, have the entity purchase the new homes, and get a small local bank give you a commercial mortgage. I only get commercial loans on my single family homes and found it to be nearly impossible to get residential loans.

Greetings BP fans.  I just wanted to introduce myself.  I signed up for BP a while back but just started actually taking advantage of it after discovering how good of a resource it is.  I'm a residential investor with over 70 homes and 5 multifamily properties in Class A neighborhoods in NJ and eastern PA.  I'm looking forward to meeting many of you and helping one another  achieve our real estate goals. 

Sincerely,

Chris