Bergenfield, NJ · Member since 2018 · 38 posts · 8 votes
Hello BP members, my wife and I are new Real Estate Investors from New Jersey. We are looking forward to learn from everybody here. Our goal is to start with Rehabbing then rentals for passive income. Any pointers or advise are appreciated.
@Lyndon Timbang, Welcome to BP! Let me start off by saying that I love investing in North Jersey, whether is Bergen, Essex, Hudson county, this are all great areas to invest in New Jersey, just make sure you work your numbers and you should do well. How are you planning on financing the deal? If you haven't done this yet, I would definitely start by doing the following:
1) Finding the funds to perform the deal - There is no point in networking with realtors if at the end of the day you realize you can not fund the deal when you find the right property. Finding the funds is crucial, as the market gets more competitive its always good to work with cash when working on the rehabs as it gives you more flexibility to negotiate the price and closing periods on some deals. Private money is probably the cheapest option, however, hard to come by, so if you already have made those connections make sure you nurture them. Hard money would probably be my last approach as they have the highest interest rates, along with origination fees/points, I have seen some hard money lenders charge 3/4% points on the loans along with 10-14% interest which could very quickly eat up your profits. There is always the 203k Construction loan option, let me know if you would like a lender referral, I have worked with a couple of amazing lenders in the area on many of my own deals, PM me if you like their contact info. If you have the funds on your own, then you are set to a great start!
2) Find the right contractor - This step can be either 2 or 3 as it's just as important as finding a good realtor or wholesaler to get you the best deal on a property. Make sure you have 2-3 contractors to give you an estimate for when you find a deal, never rely just in one because you just never know if they can produce. Work with more than one contractor even if they have been referred by someone, trust me, I have personal experience with this.. haha
3) Find a good realtor or wholesaler - Find a great real estate agent or wholesaler to get you the best deal, make sure you work with an investor friendly agent as not all real estate agents know much about investments. You may find yourself being directed to deals that do not make any sense as the numbers may not work for your purposes.
4) If selling - If you decide to sell, at some point you will want to find a real estate agent to list and sell the property, I am not bias due to the fact that I'm a real estate agent myself, I started as an investor, later then turned into full-time investor, then later realized I could help people with my knowledge negotiating their deals and getting a paid in the process. I do see the benefit in having a real estate agent that understands the market and location. This will help you get the most money for your property.
5) If renting - If you decide to rent, then perhaps is not necessary to hire a real estate agent to screen, however, I would suggest you do as in most cases they will have more experience screening tenants. If you are not going to hire an agent, make sure you read up and understand well the process of screening a tenant as this can make you or break you. Best of luck!!!
Welcome to BP @Lyndon Timbang! There are deals to be had in Bergen County but the competition is fierce. Don't let that deter you, you just need to build your criteria and then put a lot of work and patience into finding properties that fit your criteria and market. Are you guys interested in doing a house hack? While the inventory is low there are 2 families in Bergenfield and the surrounding towns. Happy to share what I've learned so far. Feel free to shoot me a PM.
Welcome to BP! I started out planning my strategy by first figuring out how I would finance my first deal. Would I pay cash, mortgage loan (conventional or FHA), private money, HELOC, or maybe a retirement fund? The only option I had available to me that I was comfortable with was an FHA loan. So then I worked my strategy around that. I decided to find a multi-family in central NJ that I can owner occupy (or house hack).
If you are planning to get a mortgage on a property, I would start out by reaching out to some mortgage brokers/banks and see what your options are. I am actually working with a broker in your area who was VERY helpful in going over my options. I pick up the phone and call him anytime I have a question about what I can finance.
@ Alex V - thanks, i will look into house hacking. I can even see a potential to get a 2 family house being rented if possible.
@ Sherif K - thanks for the info. I will PM you to get more details about the broker.
@ John David, Tarik Turner and Ryan David- thanks and good luck to all of us.
@Lyndon Timbang, Welcome to BP! Let me start off by saying that I love investing in North Jersey, whether is Bergen, Essex, Hudson county, this are all great areas to invest in New Jersey, just make sure you work your numbers and you should do well. How are you planning on financing the deal? If you haven't done this yet, I would definitely start by doing the following:
1) Finding the funds to perform the deal - There is no point in networking with realtors if at the end of the day you realize you can not fund the deal when you find the right property. Finding the funds is crucial, as the market gets more competitive its always good to work with cash when working on the rehabs as it gives you more flexibility to negotiate the price and closing periods on some deals. Private money is probably the cheapest option, however, hard to come by, so if you already have made those connections make sure you nurture them. Hard money would probably be my last approach as they have the highest interest rates, along with origination fees/points, I have seen some hard money lenders charge 3/4% points on the loans along with 10-14% interest which could very quickly eat up your profits. There is always the 203k Construction loan option, let me know if you would like a lender referral, I have worked with a couple of amazing lenders in the area on many of my own deals, PM me if you like their contact info. If you have the funds on your own, then you are set to a great start!
2) Find the right contractor - This step can be either 2 or 3 as it's just as important as finding a good realtor or wholesaler to get you the best deal on a property. Make sure you have 2-3 contractors to give you an estimate for when you find a deal, never rely just in one because you just never know if they can produce. Work with more than one contractor even if they have been referred by someone, trust me, I have personal experience with this.. haha
3) Find a good realtor or wholesaler - Find a great real estate agent or wholesaler to get you the best deal, make sure you work with an investor friendly agent as not all real estate agents know much about investments. You may find yourself being directed to deals that do not make any sense as the numbers may not work for your purposes.
4) If selling - If you decide to sell, at some point you will want to find a real estate agent to list and sell the property, I am not bias due to the fact that I'm a real estate agent myself, I started as an investor, later then turned into full-time investor, then later realized I could help people with my knowledge negotiating their deals and getting a paid in the process. I do see the benefit in having a real estate agent that understands the market and location. This will help you get the most money for your property.
5) If renting - If you decide to rent, then perhaps is not necessary to hire a real estate agent to screen, however, I would suggest you do as in most cases they will have more experience screening tenants. If you are not going to hire an agent, make sure you read up and understand well the process of screening a tenant as this can make you or break you. Best of luck!!!
Welcome to BP @Lyndon Timbang! This site is a great resource for you to get into real estate investing. The first thing I would say based on your posts is to narrow down your goals. How long do you want to be rehabbing? Do you have a target profit you want to attain? You've listed a number of acquisition strategies. Trying to do them all will likely make things that much more difficult for you. Fine tune your goals and determine what you want and what you are willing to put up with especially if you're doing so with a spouse.
Start with the housing basics: Do you want the home your living in to be an investment property? If so are you currently renting? Is there a lease you need to wait out or break? Do you want to do a live-in flip for a couple of years or house-hack? If you want to house hack how many units? Those are probably enough questions to get your journey started, but make sure you have them hammered down before you move forward. A lot of people get started in real estate without really grasping the consequences and the sacrifices and work involved. Don't fall into that crowd. Best of luck to you!
Greetings all , I am new to the real estate investors realm , looking forward to soaking up as much info about getting funding for properties , finding private/hard money lenders and anything else that you investors want to share . I'm in the Essex county , NJ .