NJ ll's...

What are the three biggest state-specific issues that are important to keep in mind for operating in New Jersey?

I have a family member in NJ who had tried selling the old family home, but it's sat on the market. Now they're considering renting it to an interested party. It's not their first time dabbling with rentals, but it's their first time dabbling with rentals to people who aren't the neighbor's kids. They already have an accountant who handles the financials (my family lives in MD) and a separate bank account, etc, for rent and house expenses.

Ni Deanna: I am glad that I MIGHT be able to help a bit.

I would sen them to Nolo.com and read the stuff there. It is T centric, but you can "reverse engineer it.

Newfield is in South Jersey and is kind rural I believe and I think it is below the [extrapolated] Mason-Dixon line and therefore often a bit more Country-fied than other parts of the state.

They need to be registered with the State. It is a 50.00 tax and if they ever have to evict it is the first thing that the Court system will ask them Without it, they will be to only have yo get it down and wait for yet another Court Date.

CO's are big in most of NJ so they need to check for local and possibly County oversite.

If owned as an LLC they cannot represent themselves in any Court proceedings. Though our SFH is one, from what I have seen here we might have been better served by not doing it.

OH! they need to have a separate bank account for the Security Deposit which maxes out at 1.5 times rent. I would get the max as repairs, etc. are so expensive that they might need all that they can get.

As others here often say, long distance LL'ing can be really tough. so they may want to think short term and sit on it till say March and try and sell.

@Frank, thanks! I'll be sure to pass that along!

re: why it's sitting, I know they're not thrilled with their realtor. I can't remember if it was just the ugly, blurry pictures that didn't flatter it, or what. My great-grandfather built it himself, so they've held onto it for years before they finally decided they were mentally able to let go of it.

It's a 900 sf 2/1-- which was enough room for my GGpa, GGma, Gma, and her four kids to live in while Grandpa was overseas for the Korean War, but it's not quite what people are looking to buy these days. It's still got the original 1950's pink bathroom (and the original 1950's everything-else), so that's not helping.

Perhaps slightly off your original question, but maybe (this being "the old family home") they are adding on sentimental value to what this home is actually worth. Very common mistake!

re: price, I don't know-- it's certainly possible.

I tried looking at the four 2/1's in the immediate area, which are offered by four different realtors, and they're priced all over the place.

Deanna. I made a big mistake...Northfield is a suburb of Atlantic City...about 20 minutes out. With the decline of the gambling bixhousing has taken a big hit. It may be worth the $ o get a written appraisal. That area does not have much employment. I really suggest they reconsider selling.

First they can download the booklet Truth in Renting published by the state. All the rules about landlord tenant issues are there.

Then they need to inspect the place and see what it needs as far as fire proofing like detectors outside bedrooms. There is a recent requirement for fire extinguishers and they have to be the kind that are checked every year and tagged and there has to be one in the kitchen. Smoke detectors are now required to have the ten year lithium battery.

You would know the rest about having good wiring and usable appliances. So far we don't have to take Section 8 and we can just say we have not been inspected for Section 8.

My town has a license fee that is payable in January and has inspections once a year. This may vary. The Construction and permit office handles that in my town. Every town may have separate ordinances. It's Home Rule here. The state only gets involved when a building has three or more units.

Adding to others comments:

@Frank, you were right the first time-- Newfield is a teeny little town of about 1500. My GGma had been a 1st-gen Italian immigrant, and her people lived in Philadelphia-- Newfield is the halfway point between Philadelphia and Atlantic City (less than an hour either way), and is about 10 minutes away from Vineland (pop 60k). So even though Newfield is teeny itself, it's so close to multiple population centers that it hadn't occurred to me to perceive it as rural. Perhaps people perceive distance differently in the East. :)

@AllyM, thanks for the title recommendation!

Tell them to drop the price and sell.

Frank and Ally, please explain the meaning of red and blue. I lived in NJ twice 1970-74 and 1976-79, and never heard of those terms.

@Lynda (whispers) Politics.

So, for example, my family lives in Maryland. The urban part of Maryland around DC, Baltimore, and Annapolis are solid blue-- very liberal. But the rural areas on the peninsula and along the Pennsylvania border are very red and conservative.

The same thing is true for New Jersey. It's actually kind of interesting to compare an electoral-results map of a presidential election with the electoral-results map of a state gubernatorial election.