All Forum Posts by: Ryan Donohue

Hey Jay, thanks for jumping on the post.  The tenant is actually month to month. 

Hey BP, 

So long story short I'm supposed to close on my first property(2 family house hack in Passaic county NJ) on Friday. I had pushed for the longest time to set a closing date with the seller stating I'd lose my mortgage rate lock(since Dec 2016) and lo' n behold I lost it because we couldn't settle in time. The tenant(unit I'm living in, FHA loan) was given their 60 days and I'm being told they can't vacate the tenant in the NJ state required time. Not only am I pissed from having to pay extra on my mortgage but I had made lots of commitments for moving, renovations, and professionally. Since they signed an addendum that we'd close March 31st and they are breaching that I'd like to rebut with concessions to the magnitude of closing costs. Now...I know this can bring up legal issues and I'm not looking for that here, rather what everyone would do if they were in my situation? Any past experience stories, tips, verbiage, or advice would really be appreciated. I shouldn't have to absorb any recourse from them not being professional landlords, right? It's really been a long and painful transaction, especially being my first.

-Ryan 

@Thomas S. Thanks for your response! I'm awaiting the acceptance of the tenant so I should know soon.  My letter that my attorney issued to them stated that if they were not accepting they'd have to vacate at the time of rental increase i.e. April 1st.  My original strategy was to renovate which ever unit I was living and and transition between leases but know I need to be flexible so I might need to do that once I hear from my tenant.     

@Judy Parker Thanks for the quick response.  My attorney was the one to issue the document to my tenant stating that we'll be increasing the rent so he's aware of the whole situation.  I could only increase to $1550 but with my analysis I'm seeing it might take longer to get to the sweet spot to cash-flow once I vacate and rent my unit.  You definitely have a point on the fact that I'd have to do some serious cleaning and painting of the unit! Thanks and I wish you luck in your dilemma as well.  I'll keep everyone updated of the outcome. I might speak with the tenant directly on negotiating.    

Hey BP, 

So I'm about to close on my first ever property the end of the week, yay! It's a two family in Northern New Jersey and I will be living in the top unit. The tenants are both month to month and I had to give notice of quit to the top unit so I can live there(FHA loan). I've been doing research since I first came upon this property as to the fair market rent to be sure that the numbers make sense. So the tenant is paying $1250(absolute steal for this area) and the fair market rent for all the amenities, space, and extras such as 2 car garage, full driveway privileges, small dog, and more $1650 is pretty on-point. The increase is definitely a shock and I've been given permission to give the tenant notice of increase before closing that rent will be $1650 upon my possession. She really wants to stay and I really would like the convince of already having a tenant but she's saying the rent is a little too high. I offered to replace her oven or refrigerator to soften the up in rent but curious of everyone's opinion here on BP. Has anyone been in a situation where they've had to raise rent so high(yes, there's no rent restrictions in the town) , if so what helped to make it an "easy" transition?

-Ryan     

@Benjamin Greenapple welcome to BP and congrats on jumping on the forums! BP has given me more advice, networking, education, and really everything real estate than most any other source.  I highly recommend as @Shawn Mcenteer mentions on going to local REIA because it really helped my personally to jump-start into taking action. If you educate, network a little, take action, and stay persistent you'll realize this is honestly a pretty small niche from my perspective. Feel free to PM me anytime to bounce anything off of me or try to get a tip on where to find an answer. See you around the forums!

@Tito Burgos feel free to message me anytime on anything you might have about multfamilies in the area.  

@Francisco B. So I know you might be looking for a 100% certain reliable contractor and don't want to wait much...but I've got a tip I'll steal from a podcast! I heard(don't quite remember which podcast) but go to home depot right as they open, usually 6AM and go to the pro desk and ask around.  Another tip I've thought while looking for a contractor is find maybe a house in your neighborhood or near the house where they're doing construction and ask the owner how they liked the contractor and ask for a recommendation.  Once you get that, check out their other projects and ask the owners if possible.  Really do your homework because unless you can't afford to spend some time researching, you cant afford the extra fees/bad work.  Lastly, check out other nearby sub-contractors and ask who they recommend as a general contractor.  I did this last one as well and ended up coming up with a great reference. 

Hope It Helps, 

Ryan 

@Ray Konboz welcome to BP and making your first step into REI on your property! I'm focusing primarily in Bergen county and I'd love to connect sometime to learn how your market is and what you're currently seeing going forward.  Good luck and I hope to see you around the forums. 

@Nathan Paisley congrats, it seems like you've made some massive progress over the past few years! I'd love to connect sometime and hear of any tips you have on growth.  I'm really pushing to get to that point, close on a few deals and working through a short sale now!  

P.S. I really like your website, does your brother do webdesign? Did you use a template? Just curious for down the road when I get more time and direct mail systems in place...

Happy Monday BP!

     I'm currently looking for my first investment property in Essex county and I'm curious if anyone has properties in either Montclair, Bloomfield, West Orange, etc and wouldn't mind sharing.  I came upon a property I'm currently analyzing that looks to be a 7.7% cap and think it might be good for the area but wanted to bounce it off of other experienced investors in the area.  Also, yes I know Essex varies A LOT from the Oranges to mega-mansions in Glen Ridge but I'm looking for the "typical" rental property.  Any info would be beneficial as I begin my journey in buy and hold.  FYI 7.7% was with it fully occupied at rent now, although I plan to live in a unit for a little while and "house hack."

Cheers, 

Ryan