All Forum Posts by: Nick Rutkowski

Hello fellow Upstate New Yorkers and those interested in investing in the greatest area in New York! Feel free to drop by and say hi. Just looking to connect people with each other and to expand my network. 

I'm Nick, I've been investing/landlording for 8 years now. I have experience in construction, BRRR, mixed use buildings and class C/D landlording. My areas of knowledge are the Fingerlakes, Ithaca and Syracuse.

I'm looking forward to meeting you, let's connect! 

@Von Wilson you could ask the developer next door to partner with you and have them build on your property.  Once they're done, you can rent out the property, refinance,  and cash them out. 
 

@Hayley Beckman thanks for your perspective. A few others have me mentioned other rust belt cities reviving because of cheaper housing prices, rising rents, and new business moving in.  I see it in Upstate NY - Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse. 

@Steven Cornell think of this scenario, what if you have a turnover and your cleaning lady quits that day. What are you going to do? Most likely clean it yourself. You can't do that if the property is out of state. Keeping your STR local would be the best case. Your market is expensive, I wouldn't look for normal working class people as your target customers. I'd research how much the rich people from NYC are paying and see what kind of houses they're staying in. Figure out what they're willing to pay, use those numbers to refine your search on houses you should buy.

Quote from @Steven Cornell:

I'm currently researching the prospect of short term rental markets relatively close to home which is Saratoga County NY. It seems there is a great discrepancy over whether it is smarter to stay local or not for your first rental investment. I am not against LTR but would like a higher cash flow property since my wife and I are already in our early 40's. We have full time professional jobs and children so getting into heavy rehab or flipping is not an option. Popular markets near us appear to be the hudson valley, adirondacks, finger lakes (although it seems STR's are under fire there), and even the cape cod area as we have vacationed there a lot and know the area fairly well. I'm wondering if people had experience in any of these particular markets they could share.

How much work are you planning on putting in turning over your STRs? It can be a full time job if you have back to back turn overs during the spring and summer time. Let me know if you do it, I'm up at the horse tracks twice a season.

Quote from @Simone Harlow:

An attorney told me its only standard any any other temple for assignment deals would raise eyebrows. Anyone have the template for wholesalers as opposed to realtors? Or does anyone know if I would adapt it?

I'd use the template a lawyer gives you, especially if it's the standard document used in the county. You're better off doing it their way, NY is an attorney state, which means lawyers have to sign off on the deal. Doing it any other way but how they want it will only lead to frustration and wasted time on your end. 

Quote from @Sendil Thangavelu:

I have a property in Ocala, Florida with well water. Testing revealed 21 grains per gallon of hardness. I've received quotes for professionally installed water softeners around $3,000. I'm wondering if a more budget-friendly option, like the RHEEM water softener (42,000 Grain Preferred Plus Water Softener for Hard Water and Iron Reduction) available at Home Depot for around $500, would be sufficient.

Has anyone had experience with similar DIY water softeners? Any insights or advice you can share would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance. 

 You can go with a budget friendly option at HD or Lowes, there's nothing wrong with those options for a rental water heater. For install, unless you're familiar with plumbing, I'd have someone install it for you for the first time. The learning curve for plumbing is a nightmare, you'll spend a lot of trips to the store and get frustrated starting over constantly. 

Do yourself a solid, sit right next to them and learn how to do it. That way next time you can do it yourself properly. There's nothing wrong with paying for someone to do their job but take the opportunity to learn from them. 9/10 times they don't mind teaching you.  

As far as price, $3,000 is about what I'd charge in NY. Seeing how you're in Florida, it's the same price I'd charge down there. 

Quote from @Dan Hertler:

I currently manage some of my out of state rentals, but would like to create my own property management business locally in New York (Long Island). 

I am a licensed RE salesperson in New York, but I am wondering about the requirements to start a PM company. Based on what I am seeing on the Department of State website, in order to do this I'll need to be a licensed broker. Are there any New York PM company owners here that could weigh in on the requirements? 

If the answer is that I need to become a licensed broker before I can start the company, does anyone know about the broker points scoring system? I only recently became licensed, so I would have a long way to go in order to comply with the 2-year experience requirement, but I have been an active investor for 5 years so I am wondering if I would fall within the 3 year exemption, below:

• - Have at least two years of experience as a licensed real estate salesperson or at least three years of experience in the general real estate field or a combination of both
• - Meet the minimum points required for the experience type (e.g., buying and selling your own property, managing property owned by your employer)

Thanks in advance!

 There's no way around it unless you specifically work for one person only. Seeing how you want to work for multiple people, a brokerage licence is required. I tried when I was an agent. If you have the experience then you should become a broker and go for it. Then sell on the side, extra pipeline for revenue. 

@Steve Smith I think enough is enough when you look in the mirror too many times saying "I need to do something different." The one nice thing about achieving financial freedom through real estate is we have the luxury to say this and change our lives. 

@Ben Fernandez Yes, it makes analysis a lot easier and faster. I can do an analysis by typing in the address to my module.