All Forum Posts by: Justin McElroy

Hey Garry - in the process of closing on my first duplex now that I plan to house hack using an FHA 203k loan. Shoot me a message - I'd be happy to hop on a call with you to talk about my experiences thus far.

Justin

Welcome Ryan!

Welcome man! Congrats on paying off your debts! I wish I was your age when I first started learning about RE investing!  You're in good hands here

Cheers!

Justin

Welcome Sam!

I live in and am starting to invest in Hudson county and see the same thing as you. 1% is a better rule to follow for a quick analysis (i.e. see how close you can get to 1%! lol). From my experience, your best bet is to really take a hard look at the numbers and analyze the cash flow and ROI. You can still find great deals that don't hit the 1% rule if you can figure out how to add value.

Also, start going to local meet ups.  Meet wholesalers, other investors, agents, lenders, contractors, etc. and tell them what you're looking for.  These are the people that can help you find the best deals before they hit the market.

Can anyone provide a referral for a reliable structural engineer who does work on residential multifamily properties?  

Need a quote for work on a 2 family property in Guttenberg by Monday (i know... short notice..)

Thank you in advance!

@Brian Washburn

I'm also interested.  Does anyone know how this would work in a duplex? I'm more concerned about how it works for tenants paying utilities.  If I want tenants to pay their own utilities, do I have to have two separate systems installed?

Also, I know this will vary by location, but can anyone provide an estimate to install 1 system with 2-3 internal units?

Thank you for the recommendation @Nick M.

Appreciate the input @Kevin K. all very valid points!

Hi everyone - hopefully a local attorney is reading this, if so please message me as I'd love to hop on a call or meet for coffee to discuss (I'm also looking to find a great attorney to add to my team!).

I've been trying to figure out the rent ordinances in all of the cities I'm looking to invest in in Hudson County (West New York, Jersey City, North Bergen, Weehawken, Union City).  

I've been able to look up all of the documents that spell out all of the legal terms for rent ordinances and they all seem to be pretty close to the same stipulations, with some, small differences here and there, but 1 thing is not specifically spelled out (at least that i can see), relating to marking the rent to market rates.

From what I see, generally, if you purchase a triplex and owner occupy 1 of the units, you are able to increase the rent on all units to market after you are able to get any inherited tenants out.

My question is, if I were to buy a property as a straight investment property (without owner occupying), assuming the property is delivered vacant (or inherited tenants are out shortly after closing), am I able to make the rent to market for future tenants? Or am I limited to the increasing the rents 2% (or whatever the cost of living index currently is) on what the previous tenant was paying (which is essentially what was previously reported to town hall)?

Thank you in advance - Not looking for free legal advice at all, just want to make sure I understand the local laws correctly, because a lot of the deals I'm seeing in this area can't even come close to cash flowing unless you are able to mark the rent to market.

Justin

Congrats Leonard! Unfortunately I have nothing to offer in your area except words of encouragement - Best of luck and looking forward to hear about your experiences and your progress!

Appreciate it @Scott Wolf I’ll give them a look. 

This is great guys - keep them coming!