All Forum Posts by: Matt Bertsch

@Ben Wenger, I just found myself in a similar situation. I recently purchased a triplex that was fully occupied. I sent new landlord letters to all of them informing them of the change in management and advised them how to pay rent, when rent was due, who to contact for maintenance issues, and upgrades we planned to carryout on the property. I also informed them that their rent would be going up and that, should they stay, they would be shifted into 1 year leases. However, I gave them 2 months before the rate increase and lease signings took place. This 2 month window gave them an opportunity to look for a new place if they couldn't afford the rent, but more importantly, it allowed me to get a read on the tenants before being tied to them for an entire year. Luckily I did because one of the tenants didn't pay rent, had too many people living in his unit and created non-stop problems for the other tenants. Because he was still on a M2M I didn't have to go through the eviction process. I simply served him a Notice To Quit informing him we weren't renewing his lease and that he had to be out within 30 days. (Your'e bound by the lease and/or state on the amount of time you have to give. Do your research!)

All in all it took a little longer than I would have liked but at least I wasn't contractually obligated to lease to him before I realized what kind of tenant he was. This also gave me the opportunity to renovate the now vacant unit and put my own tenant in at a higher rent than the original tenant was going to be paying. 

I didn't collect a security deposit from my remaining 2 tenants only because they have lived there for 20 and 8 years respectively and their units were very well kept. That said, I will be collecting one from the tenant I place into the 3rd unit. 

Lastly, don't be afraid to raise rents, your business depends on that income! And your tenants are probably expecting it. (Again, check your local laws on rent control. I am not an attorney)

Best of luck!

-MB

@Dimitar Popov The Lehigh Valley is very hot right now. The city of Allentown has seen a lot of growth over the last few years due to some Neighborhood Improvement Zone incentives. The challenge this creates is it makes everything more competitive. A lot of out of town money is being funneled in driving sale prices up and CAP rates down. Like much of the country you have to get a little creative to both find and make a good deal.

@Angel Arr I would check out some of the smaller banks and credit unions in the Lehigh Valley. New Tripoli Bank and Embassy Bank have some good commercial loans right now. Something to keep in mind when selecting a bank to refinance with is their closing costs. Not all banks are created equal when it comes to that. For example, I just did a cash-out refinance  on my personal residence through a private credit union and it only costed me $700 (including appraisal) whereas most banks would charge closing costs on the loan. 

@Jonathan Rivera Yup, Cabelas (Hamburg) is a about 30 - 40 min west of us. Not a bad ride and CI definitely makes it worth it!

@Jonathan Rivera

Welcome to the BP family! I am located in Pennsylvania, specifically the Lehigh Valley, and I focus on value-add Multifamily and Flips...In case you need them, here are few things to check out as you work your way around the site:

Find and connect with other BP members that are in your area: https://www.biggerpockets.com/search/users 

Set up some keyword alerts to notify you when members are discussing something that interests you. I use this a lot for location based discussions: http://www.biggerpockets.com/alerts

Read Beginner’s Guide: http://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investing 

Obviously check out the BP Podcasts. There's tons of great info in these: https://www.biggerpockets.com/podcast

Let me know if I can help you with anything else. Good luck!

@Dimitar Popov 

Welcome to the BP family! I am located in Pennsylvania, specifically the Lehigh Valley, and I focus on value-add Multifamily...In case you need them, here are few things to check out as you work your way around the site:

Find and connect with other BP members that are in your area: https://www.biggerpockets.com/search/users 

Set up some keyword alerts to notify you when members are discussing something that interests you. I use this a lot for location based discussions: http://www.biggerpockets.com/alerts 

Read Beginner’s Guide: http://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investing 

Check out the BP Podcasts. There's tons of great info in these: https://www.biggerpockets.com/podcast

Let me know if I can help you with anything else. Good luck.

@Franklin Urbaezj If you're looking for a good meet-up in Allentown check out @Justin Brown's. He holds 2 events per month. A happy hour event and an actual meet-up. It's a really good group with a nice mixture of experience levels. 

@Samuel Silver Welcome to the BP family! I am located in Pennsylvania, specifically the Lehigh Valley, and I focus on value-add Multifamily...In case you need them, here are few things to check out as you work your way around the site:

Find and connect with other BP members that are in your area: https://www.biggerpockets.com/search/users 

Set up some keyword alerts to notify you when members are discussing something that interests you. I use this a lot for location based discussions: http://www.biggerpockets.com/alerts 

Read Beginner’s Guide: http://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investing 

Check out the BP Podcasts. There's tons of great info in these: https://www.biggerpockets.com/podcast

Let me know if I can help you with anything else. Good luck

-MB

@Djordje Janjus Welcome to the BP family! I am located in Pennsylvania, specifically the Lehigh Valley, and I focus on value-add Multifamily...In case you need them, here are few things to check out as you work your way around the site:

Find and connect with other BP members that are in your area: https://www.biggerpockets.com/search/users 

Set up some keyword alerts to notify you when members are discussing something that interests you. I use this a lot for location based discussions: http://www.biggerpockets.com/alerts 

Read Beginner’s Guide: http://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investing 

Check out the BP Podcasts. There's tons of great info in these: https://www.biggerpockets.com/podcast

Let me know if I can help you with anything else. Good luck

-MB