Quote:

Here is another link to the article I referenced. It will be open to non-subscribers for 7 days. Copying and pasting is a violation of my subscriber agreement.

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/S ... ml?mod=wsj_valettop_email

Here's a slightly older article about Dixon. No subscription required.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001 ... 04578314380251939580.html

Note how the plan is to rent while waiting for home values to appreciate, and then sell them, presumably to all the widows and orphans -- oh, sorry, "young families with kids" -- who will want to live in JC in a few years. ;)

Quote:
Hey jo3 could you copy & paste the article for those that are not suscribers to the WSJ please.

Here is an interesting WSJ article describing how investors are now sprucing up neighboring properties for free to improve the overall value of the area and ultimately, their own investment.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001 ... _MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsTop

Quote:
As I remarked back in January:

There are, roughly speaking, 80,000 housing units in Jersey City. About 56,000 units are rentals. 70% of all the housing in Jersey City are already rentals.

In January, Dixon owned around 230 units. That's about 0.3% of all units, or 0.4% of all rentals.

There is no way they will be able to "monopolize" the rental market. And compared to the Lefrak family, they're a flea.


Quote:
70% of JC apartments are rentals. If you object to renters, you live in the wrong city.

In the NYC area, real estate is very expensive; so lots of renters stick around for a long time. Or, they rent for a few years, and then buy.


Quote:
Yes, that's how life works. Renters need places to live, too.

Should we also object to singles who buy apartments? How about married couples that don't want children, should we run them out of town?

And no, it's not bad for schools. Real estate taxes are collected regardless of whether the unit is owner-occupied or a rental. The quality of the schools depends on how well they are managed and funded, the administration, and the teachers, as well as the socioeconomic conditions of the city. None of this is changed because a company is buying a few more rental units.

The Aussies are blitzing the market. They have tons of money and are outbidding everyone so they can monopolize the rental market. Their audience is transient renters and not people who would make a long term commitment. The young families are outbid time and time again. Longtime owners who are looking to cash in may be creaming themselves but ultimately it will be bad for young families and the school system which some people are fighting to fix. As much as some would like to believe it, bars and restaurants are not the foundation of a neighborhood. It IS the families and homeowners.

Or, on the other hand, maybe these properties have all along been artificially undervalued by the typical JC buyer and the Aussies are revealing the correct value.

Quote:

if the market price is too high, then people won't buy, right? if they buy, how can it be too high?

Quote:

The Aussies are artificially inflating the market. A guy around the corner was approached by them and after a few weeks negotiating backed out. He decided to list his home anyway and it took about 4 months to finally sell it to a family. By taking the Aussies out of the picture he was able to sell to a family who will be living here awhile and who will be committed to the neighborhood. It also probably gave that family a fighting chance as they didn't have to bid against a conglomerate.

Quote:

it's 500sq ft less and just a couple houses down. Hardly worth the $1500 difference.

It looks like the less expensive one is a top floor 3BR apartment, and the more expensive one is a whole 3 story house.

To some people, paying a premium for a whole house might be well worth the difference in rent.

Just to understand the management group we are dealing with here, check out these 2 properties and the difference in asking price. Guess which is now owned by the hedge fund...

77 Coles

83 Coles

Australian dollar is not worth twice the US dollar. You're probably thinking of British pound which is closer to 2x US dollar.

I am all for people investing in JC, either a corporation or an individual trying to start their family here. That being said, I don?t think this is a good thing for JC, its stopping good families from buying a home here. Neighborhoods improve when you have home ownership, schools do better, etc?

But I also don?t see how this company is going to be successful in the long run. They have bought SO MUCH stuff in some not so desirable neighborhoods. The amount of money that supports the lawyers, property management, etc? is huge. Sure they can always sell off the properties downtown but the other areas is going to be a tough sell.

For downtown the Australians and the rest of the world, there is this a real fact that property in the US is much cheaper then elsewhere. It is only a matter of time that we follow suite. The Australian dollar is twice that of the US and they are finding the results to good to be true.

Squeeg, if you want anyone to take you seriously, you need to stop acting crazy. I mean, I'm kind of getting a kick out of it. But a part of me feels sad because I can only assume you are mentally ill.

Please provide the addresses of the homes that you believe were single family broken into multi-families. Then we can easily look up the property and see what it's status is. Your assumptions may be flawed.

For example, in my old building we were two families living in a legal three family building. One couple got a two-floor duplex, while the other family lived across two separate one floor apartments (we didn't alter any entrances or anything). So from an outsiders perspective, when we sold and the new owner had three separate units, some might mistakenly believe that the new owner had changed the number of units. I realize this is a highly unusual situation. But it happens.

Also, while I too believe that maintaining historical interior details, I also know that owners all over the city over the past many, many decades have done shitty remodeling and 'upgrades' that are in no way historic, high quality, or, in many cases, legal. You can't control what other owners are going to do inside their buildings. You can't control what the next owner does to your former home. It doesn't work that way.

And how do you have so much time to devote to stalking Dixon properties? The word that comes to mind is creepy.

Quote:
Thank you! HA!!

Who cares who is buying property? Why can't we focus on bigger things like how a 12 year old gets shot and killed playing basketball. There are so many properties in Bergen lafayette and greenville available with historic features that any of you can buy it if you have the money.

How about helping the new mayor get things done around here?
A lot of us around here can say the same about all the downtown properties bought dirt cheap when the area was mainly latino.....

get over it. There are more important things to deal with in Jersey city.

Quote:

Dear Fellow Wall St D-Bags,
Don't worry about what's being posted about us. We have more money so we win.
JCCheerleader

Isn't anybody else troubled by that name US Masters? In any case, I have to say that as cozy and as friendly as they make it sound it is not easy to maintain hundreds if not thousands of homes. US Masters will benefit as well as those who are selling but for young families who want to improve the school system etc. a more and more transient population does not help their cause. DTJC will just be an extension of Hoboken. Some families but predominately Wall Street D-Bags and recent college grads packed in like sardines and paying ridiculous rents.

Mr. Dixon,

You've entered a trolls paradise. They eat here frequently and crap out paragraph upon paragraph. If this website was a zoo, the sign upon entrance would be "You've entered Troll territory, feed at your own risk." I think you just threw them a bag of peanuts.

I heard this, I heard that, all this hear say. Show me the proof.

Dear Mr. Dixon,

My apologies for the rudeness of the persons who are posting here. As long as you respond, they will continue to persecute you. They can't help it: it's a personality disorder.

:)

JCCheerleader

Mr. Dixon,

Allow me to begin calling you a mindless twit! You have played exactly into my hands as I predicted you would in my first blog. Congratulations! You have won the jackass of the year award! Cheers to you mate!

I figured it might take you at least a week or maybe two to engage and respond but you surpassed my expectations after only three days. Wow! I am not sure if I should feel sorry for you or if I should be impressed by your cunning tenacity!

You are so worried that more folks in Jersey City might actually conclude that they should be concerned about what companies like yours represent that you rushed in like a yabbo to save the day?Fail!

If you don?t mind, I'd like to take this opportunity to respond to your bits of information:

1. On more than three occasions you have chopped up a perfect one family home into a two or more family home. I have the proof in my hands thanks to my good friends at the Jersey City Housing Commission. Let?s save this one for a later conversation, shall we?

2. While I do not have any records of any illegal apartment to date, I am however in the midst of my research. I will get back to you on this one.

3. I have heard from multiple resources in the downtown area alone that several of the tenants you have placed have actually created problems for many of the surrounding neighbors in the past 6 months. Furthermore, I know of three of your tenants who admitted that they used someone elses name and credentials to get the apartments they currently rent from you. They could not get it on their own...so your screening methods are clearly flawed. Perhaps we should call this a poor reflection on your staff at Dixon Management?

4. I have recently been in two brownstones that you are renovating where your contractors (if you want to call them that) are tearing apart beautiful interior arches, ornate plaster moldings and precious details that date back to the mid to late 1800's. A tragedy to say the least, but hey, at least you?re putting in a stainless steel dishwasher! Good on you!!

5. I give you credit for admitting that you clearly choked on the aftermath of hurricane sandy...so I will grant you a pass on this one as well.

6. You have raised rents significantly on many tenants, particularly in the downtown area; so as free markets go you give them little to hope for by way of services, clean properties and routine building assistance. My dear sir, once you gut and rent you clearly disappear! I know of folks in four of your buildings who, have not seen or heard from your "management team" in months despite many calls and letters that have been sent to Dixon Management. If you want to impress everyone in Jersey City then put your money where your mouth is pal!

7. Yes, you have renovated and rented out dozens of houses that were abandoned and may have assisted in the revitalization of our communities, however the quality of work that you put into the buildings are borderline slum lord specials! Be careful before you call attention to this fact or pat yourself on the back so quickly.

And Mr. Dixon... Allow me to bring you up to date on the current methodology regarding how "forums" work...it is clearly a form of freedom of speech here in the United States of America! I am not sure how you do things Down Under however in the USA we are allowed to say whatever we want and you know what the beauty of it is...we don't have to reveal who we are. Welcome to the 21st century kiddo!

As our first President; George Washington once said, ?If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.? I dear sir simply cannot allow the good people of Jersey City to be deluded by false promises or desultory intentions without speaking up.

Respectfully,
Squeeg

Quote:money talks, bullshit walks.

So I suppose it's a good thing to have foreign investors banking on Jersey City's success?

Quote:

Not entirely true, they have purchased homes all over Hudson county.

Quote:

No, they are focused on the high-growth areas of Jersey City and Brooklyn.

Camden and Paterson aren't even close to anybody's radar in terms of gentrification, and they won't be in our lifetime. Newark has some neighborhoods like the Ironbound that have high-growth potential, but US Masters is not focused on Newark.

Hi, it's Alan Dixon, CEO of US Masters here again.

I'm so glad that our fund has caused such interest on JC List. As a businessperson I don't want to interrupt JCList or the forum too much but I thought it was time to make another quick post. I appreciate that some people don't like us being in the community and some people are happy to have us around, but I thought I could help with some quick facts.

For those who missed it, I made a quick post back at Number 32 on this thread which also has my personal email address and our office number if you wish to contact us.

I'd like to give a few bits of information:
1. we have only ever left the current number of legal units in a building the same or reduced it down to say a 1 family;
2. we have not and will not ever rent an illegal apartment. We have bought over a dozen houses that have illegal apartments and we have never ever rented one out and never will;
3. all our tenants are screened for a full background check, we think they are great for this city and this community. Whilst many are new to Jersey City generally they love it and stay for the long term;
4. all of our renovations that are currently underway in every area of Jersey city have dishwashers and many have washer dryers. Clients are demanding better and better rental stock and they are getting it from us. If you've seen one of our 2011 or 2012 renovations they aren't even close to as good as our 2013 work;
5. We didn't do a good enough job after Hurricane Sandy and we apologise to all our affected tenants. We did manage to find 10 tenants whose houses were completely flooded new houses the very next day. We did have 4 teams pumping from the next day, but we still missed a lot of people and of course we couldn't help with all the PSE & G problems. We have learned a lot of lessons and will do better next time, but in a natural disaster it is very hard. Our office was flooded out of action, we had no power or phone system and after a few days getting gas became almost impossible. You must remember it was the biggest storm in NYC history. We are in the process of getting better back up facilities for future disasters;
6. We have raised rents significantly on some tenants, particularly in downtown, but these are free market tenants who in many cases were paying less than half market price. We are a business, and just like any other business we need to charge fair market prices;
7. We have renovated and rented out dozens of houses that were abandoned and have, in our opinion, materially assisted the revitalisation on of our communities;
8. I am happy to come and speak to any community organization about our fund and our plans.

And finally to Squeeg, I am the only person from Dixon Advisory who has ever posted on this list. I believe any business person who posts on an internet forum should be open and honest about who they are.

I'm not sure about your agenda for your defamatory accusations, but perhaps you would be good enough to remove the veil of anonymity?

Best

Alan Dixon
CEO US Masters

Are Investors and Dixon buying into Newark, Camden, and Paterson as they are in Jersey City ? If not it shows you that J.C. will always have potential. I'm still here !