All Forum Posts by: Tania Patch

I can only say that as an owner of a home in union city and having delt with city hall for years they are awful. 

Depends on the town. Some green card is enough, others want a walk thru CO.

You can charge no more then $20 each and their request needs to be in writing.

https://www.state.nj.us/dca/divisions/codes/publications/pdf_bhi/win_guards_for_tenants.pdf

This is the unfortunate reality of NJ overall, especially since rental prices have softened over the past couple years.

Why do you need a monthly property manager for $108/mo for a condo? That's a throw away of money. 

You absolutely 100% must disclose you are a licensed agent up front. It is a part of the code of ethics and opens you upto many legal issues if you do not. 

Article 4 (Case Interpretations for Article 4)

REALTORS® shall not acquire an interest in or buy or present offers from themselves, any member of their immediate families, their firms or any member thereof, or any entities in which they have any ownership interest, any real property without making their true position known to the owner or the owner’s agent or broker. In selling property they own, or in which they have any interest, REALTORS® shall reveal their ownership or interest in writing to the purchaser or the purchaser’s representative. (Amended 1/00) [listen]

• Standard of Practice 4-1

For the protection of all parties, the disclosures required by Article 4 shall be in writing and provided by REALTORS® prior to the signing of any contract. (Adopted 2/86)

Article 5 (Case Interpretations for Article 5)

REALTORS® shall not undertake to provide professional services concerning a property or its value where they have a present or contemplated interest unless such interest is specifically disclosed to all affected parties. [listen]

Any chance you could owner occupy for a bit ? Get at least one out that one. Some tenants don't won't to live in a 2-family with their landlord, might cause the other one to leave on their own. 

Does that 4% cap increase include anything  like passing along water/sewer or any tax surcharges ? Some towns allow it.

A company (broker) isn't going to waste  their time speaking to someone that isn't licensed. Think of it as trying to get hired as a taxi/uber/lyft driver without a drivers license.  

Many tenants wont rent a property without laundry. Having laundry will cut down on vacancy and create longer tenancy. 

Red flag on the oil tank.  Don't buy anything with an oil tank that you haven't had a soil test done. The cost of the remediation could cost more then the value of the property. I have seen it. 

I see alot of good advice here, and will add in my own 2 cents. 

Unless a property is already rented out and you are buying it with tenants in place and set rents established your agent can only give you ranges. The rental market can fluctuate easily and quickly, so she can't give you exact figures on rents without setting it up for possible failure. 

There are many factors in what a property can rent for, so until it is rented you can only work with 'potential' numbers. You can't expect her to give you hard specific numbers as narrowed down as adding $50 per bedroom.  If your asking her those kinds of questions your asking her to predict the future basically.  So without seeing exactly what your asking her for, it sounds like the kinds of questions your asking are ones that have fluid answers. 

Also, do you have a timeline to buy ? If your just using her for information and don't have a set time frame (such as within the next 3 months), your not going to be a priority for any agent. They have people that need help now and are looking to close soon in the immediate future. A good agent is busy, and if your just running scenarios by her she might not have time for that. 

Have you actually seen any properties yet ? Looking at paper scenarios isn't enough. Go out on weekends and tour as many open houses as you can and have conversations with those agents. A more experienced investor can work off paper scenarios, but if your starting out you need to see what that housing looks like in that area.