All Forum Posts by: Steve B.

@Kadeem Howell I saw the article too, it says she is downsizing and intends to live in the property. Yes its in Arbor Hill but not in the "rough" part of it. You can walk to the Palace Theater and the rest of downtown from the property. 

Generally speaking though I would not recommend Arbor Hill to an out-of-area investor, most of it is run-down and time intensive to manage. Better to partner with a local if you really want to do it. 

Key Bank does it but I’m not sure if they do business in SC. If you’re a veteran Navy Federal does them as well, up to 95%. More likely you’ll have to call around to some local credit unions, there’s a few in my area that will do up to 100% LTV but only in the counties that they do business in. Interest rate for those seems to hover around 7%. Wish I could find one that was interest only payments but no luck so far.

@Brian Pulaski 

Just to add that bank owned properties in NY are also exempt from the property condition disclosure statement, in addition to houses sold as part of an estate. Also new construction is exempt.

I've noticed some house flippers do not fill out the PCD and credit the buyer $500 so they are not subject to a lawsuit later down the road. I've also noticed that the PCD is region specific in NY. In the Capital Region most sellers fill out the PCD but in some parts of NY, mostly downstate, its more common to not fill it out and credit the buyer $500.

@Tasha Davis Congratulations on your purchase! The 2 books that were recommended are great reads. Here is a good read I send to all my clients when purchasing multi-families, there is a a wealth of good information in there:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2013/01/2...

On that note its always better to hold out for a great tenant then settle for someone just to get the place rented. Also if the other unit is vacant go in and fix everything that you think could be an issue later on. This is also a good time to 'tenant proof' the unit, lots of articles on here regarding that. 

Make sure your lease is solid and applicable to NY. A lot of the generic leases online won't protect you very well in the tenant friendly state of NY. Having an attorney do one can be pricey but well worth it at the end of the day. If you go that route, make sure you hire an attorney that is familiar with tenant law and evictions.

@Krys L Burke Welcome to the forums! There is many great people here that are willing to help you with your journey. I would recommend you buy a 4 Plex over a SFR. In our area, your cash flow will be much higher than an SFR, although appreciation won't be much unless you buy a place that needs renovations. If you're gone the majority of the week, I recommend you have property management or someone you can rely on to take care of things when you're gone. I am an agent in the area, let me know if I can help.

@Edward Schenkel Great advice so far, thanks for your expertise. I know you are in CT but maybe you can answer this anyway. What are your thoughts on holding rental property in an out-of-state LLC? So if I own rental property in NY, and have it setup through a Nevada LLC, is it worth it? I was at a seminar here locally recently, and they had some people from Nevada pitching their company and how much better LLC protection is in Nevada compared to NY. In my mind though, since I live in NY, own the property in NY, doesn't it fall under NY laws anyway? They made it sound like if someone sued, they would have to go through the Nevada court system and laws, not NY.

@Sebastian Naczas I believe you are correct, its $180/year per unit up to 4 units, you get 1 unit for free. I'm curious, do you find it better to add this as a fee on top of the rent or just raise the rent to cover the added expense? What do you do about the water bill, add another fee or just include it in the rent?

@Benjamin Allen I wrote about this awhile back, maybe this will help:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/12/topics/268...

Since then I've determined that it really depends on what you are doing if you need an LLC or not. A good operating agreement could protect you should a partnership dissolve. Lots of assets in your personal name should be properly protected as well. So if you have a high net worth and lots of partners I would cough up the money and have an attorney do it. $1500 seems high though.

Highly doubt they will show you how to do it on your own, how else would they get repeat business? 

@Fraidy Deutsch There are better markets to invest in Upstate than Utica. It seems like you don't know much about the area, you should take a weekend and spend some time there and you'll see why. Downtown is pretty rundown, not very many good paying jobs around, and the area is losing population. If you want to look Upstate and be closer to home, look at the Albany area. More diverse economy, low unemployment, very large student population, decent paying jobs, and a very tight rental market with low vacancy rates. The bad thing compared to the rest of the country is high property taxes, tenant friendly laws, and the winter weather can take a beating on the mostly older housing stock. However high cash flow can still be found if you buy right and factor all that into your numbers.

Jean Claude where in upstate NY are you investing?