All Forum Posts by: Mark F.

Quote from @Account Closed:

Quote from @Matt Hofer:

The main reason is I would like to use business credit to cover the down payment & closing costs. 
Next I’ve heard enough horror tenant stories to think anonymity would be beneficial. 
And I’ve seen Pace’s content endorsed by bigger pockets so thought his methods are credible. 
Definitely open to other perspectives. 
Thanks

Well partner, there's a new law in town. All LLC s become transparent as of Jan 1 2024. 

Who does the Corporate Transparency Act affect?

https://tax.thomsonreuters.com/blog/are-you-ready-the-corpor...

"According to a recent Small Business Administration report, 27,104,006 small businesses were termed “nonemployer firms” and had no employees. The Corporate Transparency Act is designed to improve business activity transparency through the reporting of Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) and is particularly targeted to these smaller businesses."

He really should keep up with the law. How many people are getting bad information?

While I completely agree, an LLC is overkill/useless for a house hack, that Act will not be disclosing info to the public. It's for law enforcement purposes only and controlled by FINCEN. We will have to see if any case law which comes out that could challenge the anonymous issue if an attorney request the information but I seriously doubt the government will aquest to such demand. Again I know this is basic level but going around saying LLCs now lack anonymity strictly because of this is a bit click baity.

If you are buying notes in your SDIRA, I do NOT recommend DirectedIRA. The amount of headaches they put me through when I purchased one was a nightmare. And they still bug me about wanting to see a payment breakdown every month no matter the amount.

Can't wait till that note pays off and I just use them as an intermediary. Checkbook LLC for the win.  

Quote from @James Wise:

Quote from @Mike Mullen:

Hi!

 I see a ton of folks from New Jersey investing out of state. NJ is BRUTAL for landlords.

Certain counties (ie the blue ones like Hudson and Essex like where the OP is located) are brutal which are the ones you hear more about as theyre more populated. Your more purple/red counties are way more reasonable and the ones I invest in. Judges are not as tenant friendly and you can expect a normal eviction time frame. The state tenant/landlord laws, while not as favorable as a Texas/Florida etc state, are not as bad as people make it out to be. I've read California's (specifically LA) when I almost moved there and those are brutal any way you slice it.

OP, NJ can be a great place to invest. But make sure you consume a good amount of NJ specific info as well as your normal RE info. We may habe high property taxes but our rents are high with increases quite common, and insanely low vacancy rates. Good luck.

Quote from @Hector Serna:

Quote from @Max Feinberg:

@Hector Serna sounds like some of these things could be resolved/noticed before actually getting under contract

 Looking for advice

Thank you though 

 While he may have been brief in his response, you missed his point which is actually excellent advice. Chances are you could have caught a few of those items before you went UC, if not all of them. Now that those things have happened to you, when you are walking properties you should go see if those issues are present on future deals.

For example, I got burned on a retaining wall issue. Do you think I now walk any property I check out to see the status of any retaining walls, no matter how well hidden or out of sight they are? You betcha.

From now on, you should be looking in crawlspaces as much as possible, checking tax records for lot sizes and zoning, and if its a short sale or even a vacant home, you're speaking to the realtor and seller about turning on utilities before an offer is made.

Again, these are experiences that you can either learn from and try to mitigate in the future or choose to ignore and get butt hurt when problems come up you didn't forsee. This will dictate your path in REI.

Great title and solid post. What was your initial gut feeling about, why you didn't want to rent to them when they signed a lease? Very curious to hear. And as usual, your gut is more often than not, correct.

Where in NJ are you? Based on your profile I assume you are in central NJ which is better than parts of northern. Others have echoed... lawyer. I'm in NJ as well and have a contact with an attorney but I'm in north Jersey. They may service central NJ.

Quote from @Theresa Harris:

 Then talk to him and tell him you are concerned.  you could tell him if the police are coming over (in his mind-but leave that part out), perhaps he would rather live in another place that is a better fit for him.

 Assuming what you've posted is true, this person is seriously mentally unstable. You need to either get rid of him ASAP somehow (lease violation or speak to his emergency contact/family member) or get out of there yourself. No amount of money is worth you and your wife's safety. Severe all contact immediately.

I quoted that part above as confronting him directly and saying you're concerned about is behavior is HORRIBLE advice. He's obviously not all there and you put a target on yours and your wife's back by openly acknowledging his behavior. For the love of everything do not do this. Not one good thing will come by you bringing it up to him. Whether or not you are trying to play into his games is irrelevant.

Think about this. He's obviously paranoid about someone coming to get him. And you tell him he's scaring you and your wife and to knock it off? Don't play into his delusions. Ignore all communications and work to get him out or move yourself. People who act like this are insanely unpredictable. 

I think you should rent to her. Why? Because it is obvious you need to hire a PM and are an inexperienced landlord. She's going to burn you and you'll learn a valuable lesson about sob stories. Everyone has one and they're worth about a nickle.

Many years ago as a young cop, I pulled over some older guy who had no license. He gave me a sob story how he was a veteran and my Sgt came on scene and was wondering why he wasn't in cuffs yet. I told him he was a vet and I was thinking of letting him go. He laughed at my ignorance and I think you know what happened next. 15 years later I can chickle at myself for how gullible I was.

You'll do the same if you stick with this.

You need to seek out Nothern NJ content along with general RE learning. Why? Investing here is unlike most areas due to some of the things you've mentioned. Jonathan Greene is a good source, specifically his YouTube shorts. He's been on the BP podcast a few times. Shawn McEnteer puts out specific Nothern NJ YouTube content as well.

Also go to NJ meet ups. You'll get a sense of how the market is and the investors up here are. I can't emphasize enough how different it is to invest here that the rest of the country perceives.  I've read numerous NJ specific threads, when BP had a good NJ forum which they've since gotten rid of and refuse to reinstate, and a lot of responses would be from out of state and the advice just didn't apply.

Cash flow is tough, not impossible, to find but our appreciation and rent raises are generous. House hackers like myself are rewarded and it can change the trajectory of your financial life. Property taxes are obviously high but picking the right towns can help tremendously. Landlord/tenant laws are unusual and most LL are unaware, especially town by town. Yet there are counties that are more LL friendly than others (hint- it's the ones that are purple, not overwhelmingly blue). Vacancy rates in our area is insanely low; you can rent out a decent place at market rate in the middle of winter, I did. As you can see we have pros and cons. I can handle the cons so I like investing here.

Reach our with specific questions. Good luck.

Where in Northern NJ? I play in that area and I assume this is more west, rural part like Sussex or Warren county. Prices and population are much lower than east Northern NJ.