All Forum Posts by: Michael McKay

@Jinyu Shao There are a few factors I'd consider before deciding to sell:

1. How long will the co-op allow you to sublet? If the co-op limits the amount of time you can sublet, you will lose your rental income at this point. I know many of the buildings in the Tudor City area have liberal or unlimited sublet policies, but I'm not sure what building you are in.
2. Have you factored the sublet fees (some co-ops increase these every year you sublet) and vacancy (including board approval time) into your ROI?
3. Are you planning to buy another home or investment property once you sell? I'm assuming you put at least 20% down, which could be a good down payment for an investment property that may generate a higher rental yield.
4. Have you factored in NYC transfer tax into the cost of selling? This is 1% if the property sells for under 500k and 1.425% for over 500k.

Generally, I advise my clients to hold onto a property for around 7 years if they are hoping to sell for a higher price from appreciation, otherwise the costs of selling can wipe out any increase.

Overall, your decision to sell or hold depends on your goals and if you have a place to put the money that better aligns with those goals.

Recent regulation in NYC is a major concern for many hosts. This Meetup will give hosts insight into:

Our speaker is Michael G. Cassidy, a real estate attorney licensed in New York and New Jersey, handling real estate closings, commercial leases, and dealing with issues relevant to Condominiums and Cooperative buildings and individual owners or shareholders. Michael has experience working in a law firm, as in-house counsel, and now as a solo practicer. In addition to his legal career, Michael is also a real estate investor and landlord.

RSVP HERE ON MEETUP

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Here's a few I have in my college rental:

1. Tenants pay the first $100 of all repairs- this will solve the issue of them calling you for something that takes 5 minutes to fix. I always say I'm happy to send our handyman, but you are responsible for the first $100, at which point they usually say nevermind.
2. Permission required to sublease or assign- if you don't give them the option to do this above board, they'll do it without your knowledge, so it's better to be up front about it.
3. Cleaning fee if they don't clean the house before moving out
4. Tenant must complete a move-in form within 5 days of moving in, otherwise they certify that there are no issues with the property 

Renting out a full apartment (one where the host is not present) for less than 30 days is not permitted in NYC if the building has three or more units. Look into the multiple dwellings law.

From my understanding, this does not apply to single families and duplexes, but there are other concerns and you definitely need the landlord's permission. I'm holding a Meetup, next month where we're going to have an attorney speak on the short-term rental laws in NYC. Pm me if you're interested and I can share the details with you once we announce the event.

**The above does not constitute legal advice.

I have several cleaners I use (one per property, as they are in different areas). I have the cleaner send me a request every Sunday on Chase Quickpay or Paypal and include the dates cleaned in the memo. That way I can pay it out with one click.

I do have one cleaner, who has requested to be paid after each cleaning for personal reasons. She does a great job, so I'm happy to accommodate her. I use the same system, but she sends the request each time instead of weekly.

@Taylor Brugna does this for me. I rent out a room in my personal residence for short term guests.

You can use Rentals United (http://rentalsunited.com/), which sends out your listing to different sites. Realistically, as long as you hit the big ones, you should be good to go, which in my area are Airbnb, Homeaway/VRBO, and booking.com.

I don't personally use Rentals United at this point, but have considered it once I get more units.

I buy reports from Airdna. They scrape data from Airbnb and give insight on occupancy rate, pricing, etc. Obviously, this doesn't take into account Homeaway and other sites, but it gives you a good idea if the market is viable.

Why not combine both strategies? I buy distressed properties by college campuses, rehab them, rent them out to students, and then refinance.

If you do this you get the best of both worlds- higher rent from students (in my area) and building in some equity.

@Mark B. I'm not sure about writing off the interest, but I only plan to use this for 6 months until I refinance, so I'm not too concerned. I've been planning to speak to my accountant about this. 

The rate is based on LIBOR and has been around 5.2%, which is pretty good for money that I can access with no notice. Setup was very easy and took about a week. I'm not sure why it's 50%, but that was the number I was given. Mine is against stock and not my retirement accounts.

It's been pretty smooth sailing so far (fingers crossed), but the main issue I could see is if for some reason there was an issue refinancing.

Happy to chat further if you want to send me a PM.