All Forum Posts by: Mike Zipf

As a software engineer I am a bit disappointed about how poorly the site is made. The real value is the data, so I'd imagine anyone else who has such data could eat their lunch. With that aside I purchased for one month, it's decent but you only get airbnb not HomeAway rentals from that 500$ subscription even though they have tbat data...

You can borrow against your IRA to buy a home. There is some risk and it's generally recommend that you pay it down quickly but if you plan on doing a cash out refinance it should be less of an issue. This is why my financial advisor told me to fully fund my IRA, even if I am getting ready to buy a house.

I know you already came up with an answer, but telling the tenant you use no "chemicals" on the yard can also be a selling point. Let them know that comes with all natural weeds. 

Also really avoid all the pseudo science here, essentially no one knows the health effects of chemicals especially people who are speaking through the internet megaphone.

Slack is easy enough to use with just 2 people, it has very good integrated search compared to say text messages. So just using one channel would be fine, there is no reason to complicate when Slack has such good search. Its like having 100s of folders in Dropbox with notes in each folder compared to using Evernote and having everything in one folder and relying on search to find what you are looking for. Just note that you need to pay to keep your Slack history in perpetuity.

Oh and you can use threads to keep logically grouped conversations together (you reply "inline" to a conversation in the same channel, just google "slack threads" for more info)

You should know that domestic violence has high recidivism rates, so it sounds like a risk especially since it was so recent (under 5 years). Take from that what you will.

Haven't heard of this as a specific scam but it sounds like it could be similar to a scam I have heard before. Essentially it goes that someone would buy something on a stolen credit card then ask for the money to be returned to their bank account or paypal account. The credit charge would most likely be challenged by the real owner of the card a few days later. Hard to defend against when not using an intermediary service which shoulders most of these risks, which most small businesses don't do.

@John Corey

WeWork is not STR arbitrage, they sublet larger offices to smaller tenants to multi-month or year leases. No short term leases in a WeWork. Also they are getting the offices on long commercial leases 5-10 years not short residential leases 1-2 years.

Ok, so I would say any of the places I said are fine except for maybe Jersey City as the PATH train from there on the weekend is a bit of a PITA. You can judge what is "close enough" based off of google maps transit directions (look at Subway for NYC or PATH for Hoboken only because buses are a headache). North of Hells Kitchen on the West Side and north of Kips Bay on the East Side are "quiet" so if you are looking for something more "poppin'" then look elsewhere. Astoria is also a "quiet" neighborhood. LES and East Village are cool but you wont find a place for 5 there. South of Tribeca is "quiet"-ish.

@Dayne Winters

Hoboken (preferably Downtown),

Jersey City (Anywhere off the "PATH" Train, note the Waterfront, Downtown, and Newport are nicer than Journal Square)

Manhattan (anywhere really but the nicest areas are anywhere south of about 70th street)

Queens (Long island city, or Astoria near a subway stop)

Brooklyn (Downtown, Heights, Carroll Gardens, Park slope, Williamsburg, there are others but that's just the short list)

Since your question is a bit limited I am unsure if this is business or vacation and if it is with children or without. I can help more with more specifics. Midtown is a dump, but I can't imagine I could persuade your friends/family to not visit Time Square.

Not to come off sounding rude but I would think anyone renting a place in Manhattan on Biggerpockets would have listed it online on a booking site. In my opinion, you or whoever you are booking for should look at neighborhoods outside of Time Square for availability and price reasons. The subway can get you to Time Square from basically anywhere in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens.