Brooklyn, NY · Member since 2016 · 74 posts · 15 votes
Hello BP....I'm looking to purchase property in Newark, NJ...I'm from NYC so for me, this is right next door. Can anyone let me know what neighborhoods to stay away from? Thanks.
Investor · Tampa, FL · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
9y
Ugh. More blind leading the blind on Newark again.
At least @Account Closed and I can agree on one thing, he's one of the few that recommends investing there. Highly disagree that when it comes to buy and holds it's great. If you have experience in Newark it will help, but anyone coming and investing there as their first time I don't believe it's a good option. You need to be weathered a bit before venturing into this space.
I've asked an attorney to confirm that rent control in Newark controls all rentals, including 2 family and single family homes. Waiting a response.
New Jersey, NJ · Member since 2015 · 327 posts · 137 votes
9y
Walmsley Gedeon I see Elizabeth city as my other option for buy and hold, the reason I like urban areas because cash flow will always be high cause those properties are low if you get them offmarket or auctions. I notice NJ is great for flips on the higher price counties but after my last flip, I'm taking a vacation from flips for now.
Rental Property Investor · Ramapo, NY · Member since 2016 · 243 posts · 108 votes
9y
Hi @Allyssa Compton, I live in Rockland too and was thinking the same thing. We pay some of the highest RE taxes in the country so I'm not afraid of high taxes. It's all about making the numbers work. Often areas with higher taxes will have higher rents and more stable tenants. (Not always, in the village where I live I don't think there's any way to make the numbers work on a SFH rental.) I've been keeping an eye on Haverstraw, where the prices are believable (in the 200s), and the rents seem high enough to cover the taxes and provide cash flow. That said, I have no experience there as of yet.
About Newark, there are a LOT of previous threads on it and you should really do a search on BiggerPockets. It seems like the kind of place where you can make a lot of money IF you make it your business to become an expert on the area. A few have mentioned that you really have to drive the streets where you are looking to invest and talk to the locals. I think @Ibrahim Hughes and @Omar Ismael have done a lot of investing there and have some perspective. (I don't seem to be able to tag them here.)
Real Estate Agent · Rockland County NY & Northern NJ · Member since 2016 · 83 posts · 45 votes
9y
@Moshe H. I agree with you about not being afraid of taxes and also totally agree about having more stable tenants. I understand the logic of wanting to get out of NYC as @Account Closed outlined, but it blows my mind why everyone wants to go to Jersey instead of upstate a bit. I suppose everyone is entitled to pick their own farm area but I personally don't see Newark turning around in the near future. It is consistently one of the lowest economic cities in America.
On that note, I currently live in Haverstraw and am evaluating some rental properties in Stony Point. A large Hispanic community so Spanish is a must if you are self-managing. If you venture into this market, let me know. I'd be happy to grab coffee sometime.
Brooklyn, NY · Member since 2016 · 115 posts · 40 votes
9y
@Account Closed Thanks for the advice. I have been looking at Elizabeth recently. I realize to make good money I have buy in real low.. I was looking under $200k but now I may try for under a $100k as my baseline.
Investor · Linden, NJ · Member since 2016 · 190 posts · 116 votes
9y
@Walmsley Gedeon under $100K you really have to have a good team accessible. Most likely at that price point and under, you will have to do rehab. That is where i have seen some people fail because they hired the wrong group of contractors. In a place like Newark, if you don't properly secure the house and there is work stoppage, you risk vandalism and theft. one time on the day of closing during the walk thru, we discovered all the copper water lines were gone in the basement.
New Jersey, NJ · Member since 2015 · 327 posts · 137 votes
9y
A smart investor once told me " You want to succeed at buy and hold you would need to calculate what cash flow property you want and equity that's left. From a scale of 1-10, 1 being in the ghetto and 10 being in trump tower, you need to figure out what you will be ok working with. #1 with get you high cash flow but slow appreciation (aka Ghetto), 10 will get you no cash flow but high appreciation (trump tower) and maybe 7 will get you a small cash flow with moderate appreciate.
@Allyssa Compton your right that Newark is not the best place economic but the prices there are just ridiculously low. Even if you invest 60k and get bad section 8 tenants you still dont lose much. For any rookie investor i say go for it because you could learn so much for a little investment and then sell if you dont want to deal with it anymore.
By no means do I say only focus on Newark properties, my goal is to have 2 Newark properties and then work my way up to other higher cities ( I'm a NYC investors). I will not recommend anybody to solely focus on Newark because its unpredictable but we all have to start somewhere if capital seems to be limited cause using hard money crooks on small investment is always bad idead.
Engineer · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2016 · 6 posts · 2 votes
9y
Newark is a great area to invest. I have often wondered what took so long for it to get on the radar! I am from NJ and my mom just recently moved to Newark to be closer to her hospital and she is very impressed with the changes that are happened especially around the art district.
However, my mom's impress is not what you asked for. She stays close to her work and is quite happy considering she moved from Edison. My suggestion would be to follow the trends. Areas that bump up to recently renovated areas are good places to start; especially if you can buy and hold.
Contractor · Milltown, NJ · Member since 2016 · 297 posts · 213 votes
9y
On a construction note, I was an electrician on the job in Newark a short while ago. We completed the 120+ unit building around a year ago at the corner of Springfield Avenue and I think the corner of Irvine Turner Blvd. (Pretty sure you can Google it 200 Springfield Ave.) Another part of this plot included a brand new Shop Rite and adjacent strip mall with several store fronts. As of a couple of weeks ago, out of all of the apartments, only a handful are rented.
When discussing this project with a women at my local grocery store who hails from Newark originally and still has family there, her exact comments were, "Ooohhhh, you built an apartment complex in Killaville."
I'm hoping for the sake of economics, that developers who sink many millions into a project get it right, and long term this bet will pay off for them.
New York City, NY · Member since 2016 · 5 posts · 1 vote
9y
Hey BP community..newbie here and in search for some opportunities and guidance. Also from NYC trying to invest in our next door neighbor north east New Jersey area. Flirted with the idea of East Orange but the taxes seem to spell eating of profits. Looking into doing the strategy of buy rehab rent refi deals. Trying to make at least some decent return on the refi if possible. Hitting road blocks on the MLS, everything that appears good is under contract.
Reading, PA · Member since 2016 · 6 posts · 1 vote
9y
Hey, Taron
I'm also from Brooklyn. I was looking in Newark as well. It's a hot market from what I can see. It looks like the same thing that happened to Brooklyn is happening to Newark. Down town is hot. Iron Bound is hot. You want to stay as close to Penn Station as possible, preferably walking distance. I would stay away from any other Newark neighborhood. Doesn't look like anything else is coming up. I am a newbie.
Contractor · Montclair, NJ · Member since 2015 · 18 posts · 7 votes
9y
I'm from Montclair, NJ a 10 minute ride from Newark and I have a decent eye on what is happening. I agree with @Erik Smalls downtown and the Ironbound are the ideal areas, north newark is a pretty good area,
Brooklyn, NY · Member since 2015 · 8 posts · 1 vote
9y
Has anyone considered Bayonne? It seems like a fairly safe neighborhood with public transportation. to get into the city. Their taxes are a bit high, but that seems like a NJ thing.
Maspeth, NY · Member since 2016 · 9 posts · 4 votes
9y
@Allyssa Compton Newark is being developed at a fast pace, but still has a while to go. This NY Times article will interest you on what's been going on there. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/21/realestate/in-newark-a-new-chapter-unfolding.html
New Jersey, NJ · Member since 2015 · 327 posts · 137 votes
9y
Erik Smalls Newark is a great place to start, properties are too cheap and in real estate you win some and then lose some.
Some investors expect you to be perfect when you jump right in your first property and others will say stay away from Newark cause it's hood.
Money doesn't discriminate, some investors are successful in Newark and others are not, that's just life and you won't know until you try it.
Being smart is having extra cameras during renovation and fence all around and pay a worker to sleep on some nights, then having a thorough check on your future tenants.
Being scare cause of it being hood or hot or low class is not being smart. Obviously I don't expect a successful millionaire investor to go after Newark properties but I do expect rookies and low capital investors to start somewhere and to me Newark is one of the best place to start.
Contractor · Milltown, NJ · Member since 2016 · 297 posts · 213 votes
9y
@ray reed I'm based right off of Exit 9, basically allows to get anywhere in NJ rather easily. I like to keep my jobs within an hour radius though. By no means does that mean I won't help people out that are outside that perimeter.
Houston, TX · Member since 2016 · 7 posts · 2 votes
9y
@Dustin Verley The outskirts of Journal Square in Jersey City is a good place to invest. Yuppies are moving out of NYC and Hoboken to Jersey City and Newark. Why? Because of the direct PATH train from Journal Square to World Trade Center, which actually starts in Newark (hence the slow boom in Harrison and what not) 15 minute walk from the outskirts and 30% cheaper (rental) properties than in the heart.
@Dustin Verley The outskirts of Journal Square in Jersey City is a good place to invest. Yuppies are moving out of NYC and Hoboken to Jersey City and Newark. Why? Because of the direct PATH train from Journal Square to World Trade Center, which actually starts in Newark (hence the slow boom in Harrison and what not) 15 minute walk from the outskirts and 30% cheaper (rental) properties than in the heart.
Exactly why I brought it up. In a recent trip to Manhattan and tl the WTC...I spoke with someone who was also visiting the Trade Center and lived in NJ about some of my REI interests where I am at in Delaware and, how one day, I would like to invest somewhere in the northern NJ market. Their suggestion was to keel a close eye on Jersey City...particularly Journal Square...because of the PATH train and the link into NYC.