Maplewood, NJ · Member since 2016 · 38 posts · 8 votes
I thought this would be an interesting exercise - if you were starting from scratch and had $200k in cash to apply to real estate investments in New Jersey, what would you do? I thought it'd be helpful for all of us to see one another's perspective on the market.
As for me, I would probably invest in an up and coming area near public transportation to NYC, putting just enough down so I can get a decent cash flow month-to-month. In NJ, I think that would end up being 30-50% down.
Pay cash for banked owned homes in a local area you're familiar with and can manage on your own, where there is good cash flow opportunity and a quick ROI (5-7 years). Refinance them after 12-24 months seasoning and rinse and repeat.
Pay cash for banked owned homes in a local area you're familiar with and can manage on your own, where there is good cash flow opportunity and a quick ROI (5-7 years). Refinance them after 12-24 months seasoning and rinse and repeat.
I would flip homes in the near future for the next 1-2 years while the market is hot. Build up my cash reserves, then buy a multi family apartment building out of state for monthly cash flow.
If you are in south jersey, I would suggest looking into buying into areas close to Philly. Having lived there for several years I can tell you the rents are rising every year and it feels like it's becoming the next NYC. New apartment buildings shooting up everywhere, but again, high rents - and not everyone who works in the city wants to live in the city. Cherry hill or Marlton could be good investment locations rig the now due to a bad climate for sellers in that area (source: Trulia), and they have good school systems up there.
I would definitely get into buying a couple of muti family fixer uppers and rent them until I would be able to refi and repeat the process again. Find a good area with cash flow potential and where people would like to commute out off.
I would do 1 flip and 1 buy & hold multi. It really depends on what YOU want to do or are comfortable with; no how much money you have. Do you like flips or rentals and knowledgable in both. You decide first what you want to do and then apply the money.
Hello and welcome to BP! I would still look for good deals and would try to buy about 6or 7 units and save enough in the bank and use as reserve on my living expenses for 6 months of supporting myself and my family. I would be cautious and consider buying properties based on the present happenings. It might effect my number of units by a couple depending what the seller discount is.
If I had $200k to spend on REI, I would be flipping houses in Bergen and Hudson county until I had $500k and then I would start buying and holding properties.
Of course it depends on your goals and time you spend on REI. For me, I would look for buy and hold opportunities that cash flow. Leave some of the money for reserves, never know when a great opportunity comes around.
A lot of great advise has been provided so far. I think a lot depends on how involved you want to be in RE investing. For more active, flips is definitely a way to go. Buy at the auctions, renovate and flip. But that entails earning ordinary income, which adds up to your W-2 income on your tax return. Hence taxed at your regular tax rate! If your preference to be passive then either becoming the bank (aka lending money) or joining a syndication as a LP is an option.
If you would like my additional input feel free to PM me. Btw, I'm in NJ as well :)