Starting out in New Jersey?

[Cyndi&Jeff Bratteson]

My wife and I are first time investors. We are looking at putting together our first deal. One thing that comes to mind is that with a house that needs rehabbing or some property management does it make sense to do our first deal close by (Monmouth County, NJ)?

If so are there deals to be found in NJ? We're having a hard time finding them. We've looked at preforeclosure and found that owners usually have plenty of time to sell on their own. The banks don't seem to have enough REO inventory to start doing deals. Any ideas?

We are also looking in parts of NY. There seems to be more deals but we are not clear on the logistics of a long distance deal. Our main concern is rehabbing a house long distance with a contractor. How do you keep things progressing when you're not there?

thanks,
Jeff & Cyndi