All Forum Posts by: Mark W.

Hey @Shannon Sadik-- like a lot of things in real estate, I think it depends.  3 of the 4 units I have in the 19th are 2BR and are renting for over $800.  They're all pretty spacious and in excellent condition as far as city duplexes go.  I think each unit has some unique characteristics which make them desirable.

I've seen 2BR units listed in the 19th close to mine that I wouldn't pay $700 for, so the 19th isn't necessarily an automatic ticket to higher rents.

I've got 2 duplexes in the 19th that I am supremely happy with, and have had zero issues renting them out to qualified tenants.  If you want students you have to be showing in Jan/Feb for the fall, at least that's what I observed.  Outside of that I've seen a few students in November renting for January.

I market like a madman when I have vacancies though.  Like every day I am rotating listings, taking calls/texts/emails, making showing appointments.  Last vacancy I had, I had 0 lost months rent.  Boom.

Hi @Shannon Sadik, before you do that I would investigate whether it's code or not.  If the zoning board catches wind, and it doesn't meet setback or other lot requirements, they'll make you pull it out.  Pretty sure that work will need a permit anyway, at which point it would be reviewed against code.

Maybe you already looked into it...just passing along caution when dealing with zoning issues.  They're sticklers.

@Jason V. Google "ny ecourts".  Should be the first link.  Go through WebCivil Local.  From there you can select the type of search.  I mostly used the Party Search in order to complete my tenant background checks, but there are other searches available.  Play around with it.  All cities/towns court calendars should be in there.

For Rochester City court, it used to be you could search the complete landlord/tenant court history.  Now I believe it is only limited to active or recent cases.  Still useful from my perspective as a landlord, as I can determine if someone is being freshly evicted.

@Spencer J. Can confirm!

@David Stott Yeah handling lawn and snow removal duties with duplexes is kind of tricky.  At one property I made an agreement with one of the tenants to give him a slight break on rent (i.e. I didn't raise rent that year) if he would take care of the lawn.  He has been super good about it.  At that property there isn't a shared driveway so the tenant with the driveway has snow removal responsibility.

At other duplexes I handle both the lawn and snow removal.  I just don't trust most tenants to get it done.   Especially if there is a shared driveway.  Wherever there is shared space, I feel its the landlord's duty to maintain.

Hi @Brooke Thomas, sent you a PM. 

@Khila Evans As a buy and hold guy, I think the best way to get started is to pick up a duplex and live in one unit while renting out the other.  Figure out if managing property and tenants is for you.  I'm of the opinion that managing property is easier than managing tenants, and make no mistake about it, success is dependent on your tenant management skills.

Everyone loves cash flow but do you enjoy what comes along with it?  That's what you have to figure out.  Sure, you can hire a property management company but that's not really going to make sense on your first property.

Interestingly enough, on this very day I closed on my first rental property, a duplex where I lived in one side and rented out the other.  I just so happened to back into a decent deal.  At the time I was more concerned with finding a quality place to live and to reduce my living expenses.  Longer term it's turned out to be profitable.  But while I lived there I learned as much as I could about fixing things, dealing with contractors, and managing tenants.  Mistakes were made, of course, but nothing terrible.  But more importantly, I realized I wanted to continue.

Take advantage of the low rates and the low down payment for first time homebuyers as soon as you can.  But make sure you have an emergency fund!  Without fail, things will crop up at the most inopportune times.

Start looking into areas you'd be interested in buying.  Hook up with a realtor and start getting listings for multifamilies.  Get mortgage preapproval.  Start crunching the numbers.  Crunch numbers till you're blue in the face, and then when something comes up that meets your criteria, act fast.

@Meg K. Absolutely keep posting to craigslist.  But the last round of vacancies I had I experimented with Rent Rochester and Postlets as well.

Rent Rochester was $35/apartment for a 30 day listing, and while I got a few leads, it certainly wasn't worth it.

Postlets on the other hand, was a winner.  The Postlets listing got syndicated on Trulia and Zillow and I was surprised at how many leads I got.  Solid leads too.  2 of the 3 vacancies I had were filled from leads generated with Postlets.  Boom.

I have 2 duplexes with garages and while I thought garage space would be considered an amenity, I found that most potential tenants didn't care too much about it.  The ones that do are willing to pay a little extra for it, so I've started advertising my apartments with "available garage space" and add a fee to the monthly rent.

More important in the city is off street parking.  On most streets, the on street parking alternates sides each day and the city enforces it.  So that can be a bit of a hassle.  But even with that, I've found many potential and current tenants shrug it off as no big deal.