All Forum Posts by: Kin Hei Lam

Hi everyone, I live New York City, I was wondering if it was legal to sub-meter my tenants for water. If legal how would I go about doing it? Thanks Kin

Update 1 I'm just going back home from the new house after speaking with the second floor tenant. I find out that the second floor tenant hasn't paid rent in the past two months, which isn't surprising considering the previous owner was trying to evict them and he was pretty much a slum lord. I am trying to get them out as soon as I can so I can start on renovations and then move in. The tenant wants 10k to move, I feel that is high. Any thoughts?

@Scott McMillan, @Jeff B.  , @Account Closed

A quick update. I have closed on the house. My bank came through and pull a miracle, the violations were not a issue for them and my lawyer was able to straigten everything out on the day of closing, the $1200 I paid her is the best $1200 I've spent all year. We closed last Monday. 

The down payment was refundable but I really wanted the house. Walking away was not a good option because the market is hot in Woodhaven right now. In the time from when I first saw the house in June to now the price has gone up a significant amount. If I had walked away the seller could have technically sold it for a higher price in a very short time frame. My brother and I really want to close on a house before the end of the year, to start the looking process over again in November and find something decent and up to our standards is pretty much impossible.  

So far it seems like it will take a while to get of the second floor tenant. The DOB violations seem like they just need the right paper work and a inspection to get cleared.

Patsy I did get way too attached to the house. Most of the issues with the house are pretty minor to me, except for the second floor tenant. The seller could have sold his house faster and for more money than what I paid, if he just got his act together.

I plan on renovating and separating the utilities after I get that second floor tenant out.
I'll update when I get to that point

Hey  Everyone

I've been trying to buy a house for a while now. Recently this June, I saw a detached 2 Family house in Woodhaven, New York. The Seller is an investor and he didn't want to use an agent. My brother and I go to the open house but when we get there he cannot provide access. We spent about 20 minutes talking and he specifically said he can deliver the house vacant if we wanted and he can show us his bank statements for the last 18 months to show that his tenants are paying on time (the tenants currently don't have a lease and have a month to month agreement). We exchange contacts and said we'll keep in touch to set up another appointment. His asking price was 650K non-negotiable (a little high bit still reasonable). A month goes by I keep checking in periodically and still nothing. It wasn't until the end of July that we finally set something up, and he didn't even show up, he had his first floor tenant let us in. We saw the first floor and the basement, we did not have access to the second floor. From what I saw I felt comfortable enough to make an offer for the full amount. 

We get a copy of their butchered statements (because they've just been depositing into their personal account instead of a separate business one) and felt very uneasy about the second floor tenant. We went back to them and said hey your statements aren't satisfying we want it vacant instead. There was a bunch of back and forth and what it came down to was they can delivery the first floor empty, and they wanted to raise the price by 30K to vacate the second floor. I didn't want to waste anymore time so we agreed to only have the first floor vacant (I planned to get rid of the second floor myself if they  turn out to be a problem). It is late August by the time we finally signed the contract with a 60 day time frame. There are a few outstanding DOB violations on this house, a previous landlord had illegally converted the basement into a SRO. Long story short, they got rid of the SRO but the violate wasn't cleared with the DOB. My lawyer put in a clause for the seller to correct any outstanding violations because it maybe an issue for the bank.

About a week goes by and I get a call from a very angry appraiser, long story short, they agreed to see the house on a Saturday and the seller was a no show. This holds everything up for a entire month and my mortgage company had to hire a different appraiser during the process. Things get going again, my mortgage broker locks in my rate and my lawyer orders a title search. Then last week my lawyer gets a fax from the seller's lawyer saying that the 60 days are up and is threatening to send the contract back. The title search came back last Friday and all of the outstanding violations are still there. I can bring up the violations and pretty much cancel the contract and get my down payment back, but I want that house. The violations aren't an issue for me, I have architectural background, the basement from what I see is already pretty bare, at most I might have to take out the bathroom still in the basement, file papers with the DOB and get an inspector in to look at the place. So its only a matter of time, money, elbow grease and headache from dealing with the DOB for me. Though the violations might be a huge problem for the mortgage.

Any thoughts? and options i might have?

@Alex Nope Thanks for sharing, they haven't sent me that message yet. 
I just wish there was some way to arrest these people. 

I guess the next best the thing to do would be to waste as much of there time as possible, like James Veitch did, because every minute these people waste with us is a minute that's not spent on someone who might not know any better

Hi

I recently saw a property on zillow. It is listed as for sale by owner and the asking price is well below the market value of the home. I sent the owner a message and yesterday, got a reply from someone in London claiming to be the agent with exclusive selling rights to the property, I've checked the public records for the property and there are no violations that would justify such a huge price cut.

Below is a copy/paste of the email

 Hi,

My name is Vera Drost from London / United Kingdom, I am a real estate agent and I have international activity for the EKO Immo Company.

We have received your contact from Zillow with regards to a property located in  Rego Park, NY 11374 

We have exclusivity in selling this property and it is available now, are you still interested?

Regards,

Vera Drost,

International Agent

EKO-Immo®

Has any one dealt with this person or company before? or maybe even a similar situation?

Thanks
Kin

thanks @Franklin Romine

I'll look into it

Hi Everyone

I was curious about what are the normal terms of a seller financed deal?

And also how would a buyer approach a seller to get them to finance?

Thanks guys, I'll look into it.

Hi Everyone

I'm new to bigger pockets and real estate investing in general. My short term goal right now is to buy a duplex or triplex in Jersey City, Journal Square area near the path train. 

The plan is to live in one unit and rent out the other to cover the mortgage, I work in the city so I would have to commute but the price of housing makes so much more sense than New York city, in terms of purchase price and rental income. Though it is more affordable, the price of real estate is still pretty high even in Jersey City.

I guess my target niche will be people who live in New Jersey but commute to work in New York City.

If anyone as any advice or tips it would be much appreciated. Also if anyone would like to recommend another location to look into that would be great also.
Thanks

Kin