All Forum Posts by: Kevin P.

I love it in New Jersey where I live now and would not consider moving but if I had to move someplace where I'd lived already, it would be in the East Bay area of Concord California. It's beautiful and has a fantastic climate. It sits in the shadow of Mount Diablo and has everything that you need. Since I was only riding motorcycle at the time I remember that I could ride in any direction and have terrific scenery. I've lived in Fort Lauderdale FL, Redondo Beach CA, Torrance CA, Ontario CA, Las Vegas and other cities like Boston and in Rhode Island when I was younger so I didn't compare them. After 17 years of being in California and Las Vegas I moved back to where I belong and feel most comfortable here in Jersey. Fortunately, New Jersey is a great place to buy rental property and I really wouldn't leave unless I had to. 

I guess it depends on what you're looking for. I will recommend my agent, Jeanne Chelston at Dickstein Associates Insurance Agency. She handles all my rental properties and one of the them is a 3 family. The insurance companies She deals with do inspections and they do have limitations such as no trampolines and certain dog breeds but their prices are fair. Now I've come to see the inspections as a way of forcing myself to do the best thing to protect the house, instead of thinking of it as a pain in the ***. She looks out for my best interest. They are in Tinton Falls.  

I will never invest outside my area again. I have done that and I knew going in that it was just for the experience and I wanted to get started in an area I could better afford. I'm glad I have that experience but I will always invest very close to where I live. Now I only invest within 15 or 20 minutes from my area in Monmouth county New Jersey. From your comments it seems you are a Hands-On kind of person so I think that it's best to stick close to home. Even if other people are doing most of the management I think everybody involved will do a better job because you are close. In fact one of the best ways to buy properties is from out-of-state landlords. 

Hi Dee. We rent houses in Central New Jersey and we take a pet deposit of $200 when the tenant signs the lease. If there is no damage then they get it back. We don't accept cats because we had a problem with that in the past. Dogs must be small and usually capped at 30-40 lbs. Breed restriction apply because my insurance inspects for that.

Deb, I agree with the comment which suggested that you should probably raise the rent, although I would do that next time around. Also, we don't charge an application fee at all. We only run background checks on someone after they have been selected but we don't notify other applicants until the selected person passed the background check.