Buy & hold real estate investor. Designer & animator. · Jersey City, NJ · Member since 2015 · 81 posts · 12 votes
Hi,
In Jersey City I was looking specifically around the light rail stop of Garfield Ave and MLK to invest but according to google that is Bergen/Lafayette but sometimes on the MLS it says Greenville. Is that area by the light rail a safe place to invest or not really? Where are the safe pockets?
Yeah you have to watch those maps. Greenville is tempting because the whole of JC is starting to get a good reputation but that neighborhood just isnt there yet.
The closer you are to the light rail on Garfield, the nicer the area. As you get further, the area gets sketchy. Your best bet is to walk the area and get a feel for it yourself. The newer construction 2-family homes which were built in 2006 sold for ridiculous prices and are now getting foreclosed on. You could probably get a good deal on one that doesn't need too much work. PM me if you have any other questions. Good luck!
@Julie Verardi Hi Julie. Many of the agents in Hudson County like to fluff there listing by listing their property in the better or "up & coming" sections of Jersey City. I have seen so many listings in Greenville that realtors are posting as Berg/Laf or even Journal Square...which is insane!
As per the map yes it shows MLK Light Rail as Berg/Laf. If you go by that map..stay as far east and north as possible. Anything off of MLK and Ocean should be avoided IMO.
WestSide and Liberty State Park light rail is decent...
Yeah you have to watch those maps. Greenville is tempting because the whole of JC is starting to get a good reputation but that neighborhood just isnt there yet.
Yeah you have to watch those maps. Greenville is tempting because the whole of JC is starting to get a good reputation but that neighborhood just isnt there yet.
Which is why I'm investing in the area. ..when it gets there, it might be too late. Do your own due diligence. Good luck
Hi @Julie Verardi I'll have to agree with @Mark Laidford On this one! earlier this year I almost bought a property in Greenville but stopped and decided to wholesale instead. The BEST PART! is that jersey city GIVES you a grant to BUY! they give you 10k closing cost and 10% of the down payment an so your putting NOTHING down, the only flaws of the program is that you have to take courses and it takes time due to inspections. At this time I stopped because wholesaling was picking up and I only wanted to focus on this primarily.
But if most people consider Greenville to be fire or the ghetto they wouldn't last a day on my neighborhood then, where I grew up in new it was horrible growing up! but like everything in life things do change. I still live in the same house and the neighbor all the bad people moved out its clean etc.... i noticed this change as well in Greenville especially since NYC is so expensive also there's a lot of change happening in the city i don't want to give to much away because i LIKE the fact people hate this area it keeps price stable and easy to find deals.
As they say one persons garbage is another treasure this also hold true in real estate.
Most investors are looking at Bergen/Lafayette area and it is becoming saturated ...It depends on what type of investor you are . All my properties are in Greenville , but I buy and hold . Right now a lot of people are shying away because of "safety" . Greenville in 5 years will be a different place.
Properties in Greenville closer to Garfield message me if you come across anything. Just by sitting in my car in the area for a few hours I felt fine below mlk twoards garfield. When you get past mlk it still feels like I'm driving thru an episode of the wire.
Properties in Greenville closer to Garfield message me if you come across anything. Just by sitting in my car in the area for a few hours I felt fine below mlk twoards garfield. When you get past mlk it still feels like I'm driving thru an episode of the wire.
Below the 'wire' is where you will find me...investing that is!
If anyone still follows this thread, i got two offers atm accepted, need to decide quick:
- Ocean and Wilkinson - 2 family, 6 bed 2 bath, turnkey, offer at 395k. quite big, small attached garage, big 2 floors 3 bedrooms in each. basement not finished. area as previous people said - war zone in some way - but then again i could probably take it for a while. WOOD. only has washer dryer hookups. backyard.
- Palisade and 60th st in West New York - BRICK 2 family, 3 bed 3 bath - each floor has a 1 bedroom 1 bath unit. Almost half the size of the greenville one, BUT much nicer area, closeby to lightrail and BRICK. no parking though... needs a little renovation in the second floor kitchen and painting, but overall turnkey also.has washer dryer. backyard garden and shed.
returns are somewhat similar although if i am realistic can squeeze out quite a lot from the west new york one. not so sure about the greenville one.
IMO renting a 3 bedroom 1 bath seesm quite tough, and fetches same as a 1 bed 1 bath in west new york area - which is full of businesses, people.
on the other hand, greenville is on fire and the property is nice, brand new, could be big appreciation in 5 yrs or so?
Greenville is still pretty dangerous and at least 5-10 years out from being "hot"... I'd go WNY if the returns are similar. Better tenant pool that wants to live in that area, Strictly my opinion...
If anyone still follows this thread, i got two offers atm accepted, need to decide quick:
- Ocean and Wilkinson - 2 family, 6 bed 2 bath, turnkey, offer at 395k. quite big, small attached garage, big 2 floors 3 bedrooms in each. basement not finished. area as previous people said - war zone in some way - but then again i could probably take it for a while. WOOD. only has washer dryer hookups. backyard.
- Palisade and 60th st in West New York - BRICK 2 family, 3 bed 3 bath - each floor has a 1 bedroom 1 bath unit. Almost half the size of the greenville one, BUT much nicer area, closeby to lightrail and BRICK. no parking though... needs a little renovation in the second floor kitchen and painting, but overall turnkey also.has washer dryer. backyard garden and shed.
returns are somewhat similar although if i am realistic can squeeze out quite a lot from the west new york one. not so sure about the greenville one.
IMO renting a 3 bedroom 1 bath seesm quite tough, and fetches same as a 1 bed 1 bath in west new york area - which is full of businesses, people.
on the other hand, greenville is on fire and the property is nice, brand new, could be big appreciation in 5 yrs or so?
Any ideas welcome
On the Greenvile side, How does your numbers look compared to the the property in the heights?
I don't believe in 5 years projection of Appreciation, especially if its on fire now. Fires tend to tame after a year or so unless any major factor comes into play like Employers or Jobs etc.
@Joel S. i went w the greenville one, as the inspector found a LOT of issues w the WNY one, and it is about half the size. i just liked the area, but the house itself is not comparable for the same price.
already rented this 2 family place out, about 9-10% cap rate. had a few issues in the beginning, as locals were literally EATING on my steps, cooking their rice and stuff/breastfeeding kids etc def not for the faint of heart.
but now noone is sitting on the steps as i gated it. and the house in front of mine is on market now for DOUBLE the price of mine. UNREAL
to be honest the area is very tough, there are some killings/stabbings but then again when I was at USC in undergrad some year ago ppl got stabbed in LA too. from what i can gather - now i have my realtor license for the next deal - bergen/lafayette which is only 5-10 streets from mine is ON FIRE, everything 100-200k more than mine in the middle of greenville. i went to some open houses and the agent was touting how up and coming it is etc all this marketing fluff. the issue people dont understand that investors have already moved in. you might think the area is bad, but the real money has been made. you might get shot, but the investors money wont be.. lil home buyers will all get priced out soon.
i just had police raided a few houses on my street so the "gangs" are gone, some investor bought the whole section. the corner deli has been bought, i see Hasidic jews more and more just walk around like its nothing to them.. so idk. police always on my corner so thats good.
it all seems like this place will change quick. i just have no idea where they put those ppl from those houses, i mean that part of the street was real bad, even driving w my car in broad daylight i got some death stares.
@Matthew McAlarney - I came across this comment today as I was researching Greenville Jersey City. How has your experience been buying and holding in Greenville? Successes/challenges if you don’t mind sharing?
All above is true but at the end of the day you need a realtor that will give full attention to your rental listing especially when they skip town in December. Several of my investors own here including 2 of my cousins here I don't want them to talk smack about the lousy tenants I gave them. I'm always in this area. The typical agent who does "Jersey City" will throw some numbers at you put there sign on the door and hope someone brings them a tenant. If you want an experienced agent who can identify the right clientele to get you through the growing years of this area I'm your guy.
@Matthew McAlarney - I came across this comment today as I was researching Greenville Jersey City. How has your experience been buying and holding in Greenville? Successes/challenges if you don’t mind sharing?
Hello @Kye Matthews-Mason interested to know if you invested in Greenville after all? I'm a Brooklynite looking to buy in NJ and seriously considering a multi unit 2 min from the lightrail on Princeton Ave. in Greensville. I'm on the fence due to all the "crime/gangs/sketchy neigh