All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Makovsky

@Meena Price, great question! I think the answer is so state specific, and really a question that an attorney in PA should answer.

We file all of our LLC's in the state of Connecticut (which is not known as a biz-friendly state), but that was the advice of our attorney.

Welcome @Niesha Smith!

Welcome @Jessica Stewart!

@Account Closed is spot on with the late fee. One thing on that point though, you should make sure you have an attorney look at your lease because there are some landlords that have in their lease something along the lines of "The Lessee has until the 10th to pay rent...", what our attorney told us is this might allow the tenant to pay the rent up to the 20th. The reason is the court might say that your rent is due on the 10th (not the 1st!) and in Connecticut law the tenant has an additional 10 days to pay rent (10th + 10 days = 20th of the month). So again best advice - ask an attorney, it can save you a lot more money than it will cost.

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress!

Not always easy to get banks to lend on flips - typically too risky. I worked with a very good HML that lends in CT, feel free to message me for info.

@Hersh M. 

I am not sure if we're saying different things: 

I do not study trends based on years to predict when cycles happen. However, when properties don't trade based on their appropriate risk tolerance, I think you can predict short-term market cycles.

@Hersh M. for me, rather than trying to predict the market based on previous cycles, I would highly recommend investing (particularly in today's market) for cash flow, or forced appreciation - NOT natural appreciation.

There are a lot of people that believe that we are in the 9th inning - specifically for large multi-family markets - and if that's the case and the market shows a correction, it will be key for people to be able to carry the expenses of their rentals no matter what the market's valuation is of the property.

However, for people that are investing hoping that their properties are going to go up, since that's what happened over the past 7+/- years, that is typically where we see bubbles forming.

I am not sure that answered your question of where we are in the market, but I do believe that's one of the reasons that causes a lot of market cycles to form.

@Mark Forest 

Stripping any and all of the emotion out of your question for reasons to allow pets,, If all else is equal there is no reason to allow pets since it is likely they will do more damage to your apartment than benefit it. 

However, there are many markets where there a few compelling [business] reasons to allow pets:

1) Potential for more tenants to fill your units; and 

2) You can ask more rent since other buildings (like yours) have no pets allowed

@Eric Hathway is it possible there is another solution?

If he is costing you $150/month + the possible cost to evict $1,000+/- = $2,500/year; can you possibly turn this into a win-win and find him another place for a landlord and give him $1,500 - $2,500 cash and cover his moving costs?

Another landlord might be happy if he will pay the rent on time, and (unfortunately) may not care as much about his mess.

@Ryan Plesz 

There is no doubt if any of the discussed mergers go through it will have ramifications, but to what extent will depend on many variables, including how many employees relocate, can the state attract new major employment, and also what asset class you are invested in.

As an example, while GE is eventually moving to Boston from Fairfield, they are now transferring most of their employees to Norwalk for the next several years, so I don't think the impact will be immediate and if [big IF] CT can get other companies to fill some of their space it may not be a huge detrimental impact. But of course it could be too.

The asset class you're invested in will also matter: If you are invested in Class C properties there is a good chance that you will be less affected (but still impacted) than Class A and B rentals in the Greater Hartford area, yet if employment takes a big hit, it will likely hit all classes of rentals.

As @Michael Noto mentioned, there is going to be a risk everywhere that you invest. That is not to diminish your point, I do think it's a very valid concern - and something that concerns me in the overall Connecticut market due to it's unfriendly business practices - but just know that market risks will be everywhere.

As a side note, Cigna is in the process of being acquired by Anthem unless it is blocked; and Aetna is trying to acquire Humana (not be acquired). However, Aetna still may leave CT (here is a link to an article a few months back about that: http://www.courant.com/business/hc-aetna-annual-meeting-20160520-story.html)