All Forum Posts by: Ray Reed

why do you want them to leave?

if you are going to keep going back and forth verbally with the tenant, you lose leverage and the tenant buys even more time. a judge will not even hear your case based off of verbal exchanges. you have to provide copies of the notices when you file for eviction. cover yourself. send the tenant the notices and then work something out with him. once the notices are sent, the clock is ticking against them. 

you have to file a 'Notice To Quit'.  you can put one in their mailbox and the other you can hand to them or send it certified mail. you cannot file for an eviction until after the month expires and the tenant is still there. you have to verify that you can only give them one month and based on what grounds. I have done it on non owner occupied homes but the laws are different for owner occupied and non owner occupied.  if you google 'landlord tenant law NJ', it will bring you to the state of nj website which states the law and procedures for eviction.. good luck

@Omar Ismael can i reserve a room for the jazzfest or carnival 5 years in advance?

what are the streets? like a lot of newark, some parts have pockets that are horrible and some have pockets that are okay.  Unfortunately it only takes one bad house to mess up the block.  You would have to sit on that block to observe it.

@Riquelmi De La Rosaq if this is going to be your first property, try to be as involved as possible so you get a good handle of everything that goes on. That doesn't mean answering the phone whenever a tenant calls or dropping everything to run to the property.  here is what i would suggest:

1. get reliable and reasonable contractors. Plumber, Electrician, handyman, exterminator, etc.

2. give your tenants a list of those contractors for emergency purposes. let them know you cannot answer the phone because of your job but they should text you and you will respond within a few hours. let your tenants know in an emergency they can contact the contractors directly but to text you and keep you in the loop. most emergencies will be plumbing - no heat, no hot water, leak.

3. put cameras around the house and have an internet connection so you can monitor remotely.  this is important to make sure you can keep an eye on the house. you dont want the garbage getting out of control. the city will give you a ticket.  you also dont  want your house to morph into 'that house' on the block.  the one where everyone in the neighborhood is hanging out front until the early morning. 

i would advise that you not go that route. you will be dealing with a financially unstable, transient, and sometimes drug addicted client base in an already rough city to maneuver. unless you have some type of agency paying their rent, you could be spending a lot of time in Landlord Tenant Court. 

@Darren Sager i have to admit that i was totally oblivious to the new rent control law. I did know that i could no longer raise the rents 5% annually like in the past.  With that said, i think the new rent control law is one of the least things to worry about when considering investing in Newark. This year i forgot to register again and they sent me an email as a reminder.  I responded with the documents and that was it.  i definitely WOULD NOT advise anyone to invest in newark but if the price and the neighborhood is right and you do have the temperament and patience, it can be a good starting point.  I started in Newark and the lessons i learned were invaluable in my continued investing.  Now when i buy in other towns, it is a piece of cake.  Like i said earlier, i would not advise just anyone to invest in Newark unless they are aware it can be very challenging. 

@Robert S. do you work on residential properties or just commercial? if you do work on residential properties, what areas do you service?

@Walmsley Gedeon under $100K you really have to have a good team accessible.  Most likely at that price point and under, you will have to do rehab.  That is where i have seen some people fail because they hired the wrong group of contractors.  In a place like Newark, if you don't properly secure the house and there is work stoppage, you risk vandalism and theft. one time on the day of closing during the walk thru, we discovered all the copper water lines were gone in the basement.