All Forum Posts by: Mike LeFever

@Holly Schuler if they have lived there for more than 3 years the process for eviction changes slightly in NYS. With it without a written lease in place I believe. I would consult your lawyer on that one. Cash for keys certainly would be your cheapest route in my opinion. That is if they go for it. Then as stated before get a new property manager

@Fan Bi @Daniel Sweet couldn’t agree more about the areas mentioned above.   Lived here my whole life and have watched certain parts of the city get bad over the years. However that being said I am comfortable in most areas of the city and good tenants can be found in all areas of the city .And while I’m sure we’ve all experienced horrible tenants who cost a lot of money, we can only do our best to prevent that by carefully screening and checking out everything we can before we let someone sign a lease. My current focus is to only purchase 4+ unit buildings so if vacancy or other mishaps occur we are still able to pay bills and expenses with the other units while keeping some cash flow. 

Most rent in Utica at this point is above 800 it will depend on where exactly you are though.  Even section 8 around here is getting about $1000/mo for 2 bed

Also consider fha loan won’t work unless you are living in it 

@Alex Nelson

Sprayer is worth it 100%. Also consider the extra masking involved with all projects.

I paint commercially as my other business and primarily spray all exteriors. Interiors can be trickier but are still worth it.

Spend a little extra money and get a Graco 390 or 395. If you take care of it it will last you a lifetime.

I am in the exact same boat with my partner and our plow contractor now. 

We have already decided to get a truck/plow for our property next year and handle it ourselves. Eventually we would also like to hire a handyman and just let him use the company truck to plow the lot.  

I have also plowed commercially for the last 6 or so years and the whole time its the same story from the contractor side as well.

The plow guy can usually please every one of his customers during a 3 inch storm because its quick and easy to move the snow, which is why most contractors pick up 30+ properties with the larger companies having 3-4x that amount. However when a big storm hits and you are relying on a "plow company" that's actually 1 or 2 guys with trucks and 2 snowblowers, lets just say your not going to get the same service you've come to expect during the small storms. At least in terms of speed. 

In terms of insurance, always worth the few extra dollars up front for a guy who's covered vs. the one who's not.

@Andrew Ager

Get commercial payment accounts at Lowe’s/HD/sherwin which all have no interest plans. Maxing out credit cards can be risky and typically carries much higher interest rates.