Camden, NJ Investments
Rental Property Investor · Brooklyn, NY · Member since 2017 · 37 posts · 8 votes
Hey BP fam!
I've been reading and soaking up knowledge for quite some time and I'm completely ready to dive in. I have looked into a few markets but I now have my heart set on Camden, NJ. The barrier of entry seems reasonable and the city seems to be on the rebound within the next few years or so. Camden actually reminds me of Brooklyn, NY which I was born & raised.
My current interest is to buy & hold either a multi-family or single family for cash flow. I am looking for professionals that are familiar with the Camden market and can guide me along the way. Are there any newbie investor friendly realtors that specialize in this market? How should I acquire financing to purchase this first property...should I finance through a bank? or go through hard money lender using the BRRRR method? I don't plan on relocating to the market as my family & I are pretty settled in the Brooklyn area and are unwilling to transition our 5 yr old out of her new school so house hacking would be out of the question.
Any advice is appreciated!
Hello Inemesit and Paul:
Greetings from Camden, NJ. It's great that you both are interested in the city. It's been in the news a lot lately. There is opportunity but I would say proceed with caution. There are quite a few investors who are members of the South Jersey Real Estate Investment Association https://www.sjreia.org/ who are actively investing and could give you some insights into the dos and don'ts in the market. Consider joining if not just for the networking opportunities.
A good place to start in looking at places like Camden is to identify the path of progress going through the city. I would suggest looking at the redevelopment plans for the city, you can find them here, http://camdenredevelopment.org/Plans.aspx. The city is pursuing an Eds and Meds strategy for redevelopment. They've invested greatly around Rutgers University, Cooper Hospital, Virtua Hospital and Our Lady of Lourdes. Neighborhoods adjacent to these facilities are a good bet, but there is a strong speculative environment right now. Off market deals may be your best bet.
Camden is a city of neighborhoods. So when talking to real estate pros, investors and residents use the neighborhood name in your discussions. Here is a map with the neighborhoods and their names - https://www.neighborhoodscout....
If you're looking to take on some risk, strong neighborhoods away from the Eds & Meds include: Cramer Hill/Pavonia, East Camden and Parkside.
If you want to go off the deep end on risk, Fairview, North Camden, Waterfront South & Central, Bergen Square, Morgan Village, Whitman Park, Centerville and Gateway are some of the choices for deep discount/high risk/high maintenance - fix and flip or buy and holds.
On bank financing, your going to run into some trouble. With the speculative environment, properties are prices with the future in mind, not the present. Thus properties will not appraise. Cash is king in this environment.
I hope this helps.
Best,
Ray Lamboy
Real Estate Investor
Camden Resident
@Joe Edwards Thank you! I agree, I'd rather do the work now if I can, rather than have my tenants calling me every other day with issues. That's just my preference and the funds to do so.
The issue I have with some people (not saying you did this) is, they discourage new investors from buying in certain areas because of what they've heard, or maybe they've had a bad experience. This sometimes deters them from investing at all. Yes, these areas are mainly low income, but for me, buying in Camden allowed me to get in the investing game with minimal funds. Everyone doesn't have access to hundreds of thousands of dollars and I know I didn't! My first property was a $35k foreclosure and my bank gave me a mortgage on it (awkward, I know). It's a 2 bedroom, I put about $3-4k into it (paint, bathroom vanity, etc) and it rents for $1000/month. I still own it, my tenants have been there for nearly 2 years and have NEVER missed a rent payment (nor have they been late). Can't say the same for all of them now, but this experience spoiled me and encouraged me to buy more.
If I would have listened to the people who told me to stay away from those areas I would STILL be trying to save up enough to put 20% down on a much more expensive property in a "better" area. The point is, educate yourself, establish a team, get in the game and gain some knowledge/experience. Have a plan A, B, C , and sometimes D! So what if you lose money and have to sell the house! Is that the worse that can happen?! If so, I'll take it! If so, you've learned so much more from that than not doing it at all. Happy holidays to you!
Nelly PREACH!!!!!!
I agree completely on the A,B,C,D,E- Z plan because this is a marathon not a sprint. I have learned a lot from all my scares in this game. As I like to call it my degree from the UNVIVERSITY of REAL LIFE! The best education money can buy.
For me I come from the very places we have mentioned in this discussion so I feel a certain kind of away when I hear people who don't really have a clue at how these environments functions think its easy. There is definitely gains to be had in these areas I just want to advise the new to really understand what they are getting into.
As I can tell from your comments you are mentally built for this game and I love it! Anyone doing this that is ok with understanding there worse case is they have to sell and maybe loss a little money to keep it pushing is my kind of investor. A very aware investor!
@Nelly R. Thanks much for the rental ranges and for being so open here with your experiences and market knowledge. I'm here up in Northern Westchester where I am priced out and suffering from low multi-fam inventory. Spending some time targeting my next move and figuring out how far from home I want to venture to pick up my next buy-hold property.