Montclair auctions off Label Street property

They looked more like a couple of guys on their way to bowling, not two real estate investors hoping to acquire another property.

Jeffrey Posner, 33, of Montclair, and Eric Van Auken, 32, of Ridgewood, were two of the four individuals sitting in the Township Council Chambers this past Tuesday morning to bid on a piece of municipal property.

Dressed casually – Posner in jeans and flip-flops, and both men wore baseball hats – the two own a number of properties, mostly residential but some commercial lots, they told The Times. They run a Web site that lists foreclosed properties in the state.

Posner, who usually scoops up homes at Bergen County sheriff sales, said before the auction he wasn’t sure whether the two would ultimately win the Label Street lot.

“It depends. There’s an EPA question, so we’re not really sure we can take it,” he said.

The property, an 11,920-square-foot rectangular lot on the corner of Label and Forest streets, is the former home of a motor vehicle inspection station that closed in May 2008. It’s been used as municipal storage since then, and is now for sale to help narrow a budget shortfall.

The May 11 auction was the first sale of municipal property since June 2006, when Montclair sold 16 Portland Place, an old Fire Department facility.

Posner and Van Auken were going up against developers Steve Plofker and Bob Silver. Plofker controls LLCs that own a number of Montclair properties, including the soccer dome on Label Street and the Bloomfield Avenue home of Elevation Burger. Silver is an owner of the former Katherine Gibbs School, and is co-founder of The Bravitas Group.

Plofker and Silver were in casual business attire: jackets, no ties.

Though these four men were the only registered bidders for the May 11 public auction, once Township Manager Marc D. Dashield – acting for the first time as municipal auctioneer – started the proceedings, it was strictly a Plofker and Silver affair.

Silver bid first, a $100,000 offer immediately countered by Plofker. The bids increased in $50,000 increments – see-sawing between Silver and Plofker – until it reached $750,000. It sat there for a minute or two as the manager attempted to wring a few more bucks out of the two developers.

“I know somebody out there wants to give me $800,000,” Dashield said, rubbing his hands together with just a hint of glee.

But Plofker’s $750,000 bid was the last, and when Dashield closed the auction, Plofker leapt up from his first-row seat and immediately wrote a certified check for $75,000, 10 percent of the winning bid.

The bid, which needs to be approved by the Township Council at its May 18 meeting before it is formally accepted, is a bit more than the property’s assessed value, according to Dashield.

After the auction, Plofker declined to specify what he intends to do with the property if the council approves the sale. He has “some ideas,” he said. “I’ll let you know.”

Posner, who didn’t make one bid for the Label Street property, said he was surprised at the amount of Plofker’s winning bid. The lot could still have some environmental issues related to its previous use, Posner said.

Though Plofker is a household name in Montclair, Posner said he had to Google him to find out exactly who he is. An amateur real-estate mogul by comparison, Posner nonetheless said he would have attended the auction even if he were going against Donald Trump.

“Auctions are opportunities and if you never show up, you’ll never know,” he said.

Contact Terrence T. McDonald at mcdonald@montclair-times.com.

You can view the original article here

I went to the lacrosse big city classic this weekend and was one of the first spectators at the newly built meadowlands stadium. Here are a few shots if you haven’t been there yet! Check out the padded seats that were in my section.

Business Intelligence (BI) refers to skills, processes, technologies, applications and practices used to support decision making

Business intelligence is relatively a new term being thrown around in business these days. When I think of what it means, I think of a quarterback and/or coach for a team. It’s a skill that can not be taught fully, it has to be layered with experience to really hold some weight. For a while I was wondering what my true skill was…I have a vast background in technology as well as real estate so I figured those were my strongest points, until recently.

What I realized about myself was no matter what industry I am in, I am able to envision or develop systems that will work and save time. It’s not that I couldn’t do other things, but my real skills involve the practice of business intelligence. The art of seeing where to take a business and how to get it there. I use the word art because business is an art; making the right decisions is like painting the correct brush strokes on a canvas…or calling the right plays in the huddle. Whatever sounds right for you!

These days it’s a lot about making things better and improving upon existing products. This is why business intelligence is so important! Small changes in process and structure can result in big profit differences.

Do you have the right Business Intelligence for your team?

It is in these times where you have to really power through your emotions and believe in yourself. Sometimes just taking a break from everything for a bit can help you see things in a new perspective. I personally get frustrated when money runs low and feel like I am wasting time cause many friends of mine have high paying jobs… or maybe you have a friend in business who just gets helped out by their family all the time and now they are doing great… it’s easy to begin comparing yourself to people who you think have it better…

Here is the point where you just stop. Relax and remember. Life is a game. You have made the choices that put you where you are today, whether they have worked or not, you still made choices and you are sailing the ship.

aye, aye…captain!

Now that’s a dog who had a fun day at the park!

See, even “dirty jersey” can look like a winter wonderland…took this coming off one of our famous exit ramps!

My business partner and I recently did a Channel 9 News (WWOR) interview with Christine Persichette about foreclosures and buying properties at sheriff sale. It was a great opportunity for us and we had a lot of fun helping her put together the story. It is a “how to” piece following myself (SheriffSalesOnline) and Eric VanAuken (Broker – HomeSmart Realty) on the deals we are currently working and our daily property hunting. I hope you like it!

Do you know your paperwork?

Everyone has herd the popular statement Cash is King, and it’s true for the most part…but I would like to expand that a little more. More and more these days you can say that Paper is now king. We see it everywhere; from contracts, permits, letters of intent, certifications…and the list goes on. The point here is that if you learn how to do your paperwork correctly it is pretty much as good as cash.

Most people I know start out in one of two ways, its either cash heavy and paperwork lite; or vice versa, cash lite paperwork heavy. Let’s dive a little deeper.

*Disclaimer – It is better to start period than to never start at all, I am making a suggestion as to a possible quicker less painful start. However it is far better to start and f*ck up, then to never take a shoot…

Cash Heavy – Paperwork Lite

This is how most people want to start out. A nice chunk of cash in the bank so that you can really make some moves. I mean you know the saying “it takes money to make money”, and a lot of times that may be true. The problem comes in when you don’t understand the value of money and or know your business enough to make these decisions, but that doesn’t stop people and it can end up being a disaster. It is easy to spend money, and that’s usually what happens. You put all your money into one deal and tie it up, then you spend all this time trying to make something of it. Seems a little backwards to me? Plus now all or most of your cash is on the street and you’re stuck. Even if you make it past the initial hurdles, you will still have to learn the paperwork side of your business…so learn it up front!

Cash Lite – Paperwork Heavy

This is how most people should start out. When I was first starting out on my journey to do my own “thing”, someone once told me; “In business you always have two assets, time and money. These usually work in a sliding scale mentality meaning you have more of one in proportion to the other, but they are both equally as strong if used correctly.”

Not only did I agree with that statement, it also made more sense to me, I almost felt that in my “gut”, it was the right way to proceed. That and the fact I had no money at the time! Some people like to call it due diligence, I like to call it knowing the paperwork… Use your time to learn everything you need to know, then leverage your money the best way possible! Some of the biggest deals by the biggest players have been done this way .

Example: Donald Trump sold the 33st rail yards in a deal where he didn’t even have the signed contract back to buy them yet. This is where the Jacob javits Center currently resides. Now that’s a sweet no money down deal!

Yey! After a long time of being a little dormant, except for twitter of course, I decided to upgrade my blog! (and I did it all by myself) Here is to running on 2.8.4!