Investor · Jersey City, NJ · Member since 2016 · 8 posts · 0 votes
Hello All,
I recently joined the bigger pockets and fascinated by the amount of information shared by the members. This is truly inspirational for folks beginning to join the RE investor community. I'm looking buy my first investment property in and around Jersey City area. I was looking at some of the suburbs within 10-25 mile radius as well.
I came across couple of properties, one in Union and another one in Newark.
Below are the numbers for both properties
Union(old house built in 1920's)
Listed for 195k
Repairs - 10-12k
Potential rent-2200(2 unit each 1100)
Taxes - 2600
Newark(brand new construction)
Listed for 321K
Repair -0
Potential rent- 2800( 2 unit each 1400)
Taxes- ~6000k
Can you suggest some of the things to consider prior to moving forward with one of the options. And also for the union property, there is an adjacent vacant lot they would like to sell for an additional 45K
You should probably run the numbers using the BP rental calculator under the Tools tab above. Look at some of @Brandon Turner's BP webinars to learn how to properly use the calculator and what to look for. He gives you some really great tips.
You can run 5 reports but in order to do more than the, you will have to sign up as a Pro members.
@Missy H. Thank for the advise and will look into the rental calculator. I think it's a fantastic tool
@Bram Spiero Yes, these are all valid points and I'm still researching the Newark area. The area I'm looking is undergoing major regentrification and would take another 3-5 years. I have to take into consideration additional costs you mentioned. I will keep looking
Are you sure the taxes in Union are that low? It seems extremely low for nj in general. I'd check the tax record. Also, for Newark, you want to consider as new construction if you actually WANT to buy retail value when you can always find something in Newark that is less glamorous but has more value created into it through fixing a few things. Plus, remember location is key in both. Are they near public transportation, schools, etc?
@Johnathan Boyle yes, I was surprised with the low taxes as well. looks like they might have grand fathered assessment from years ago. Both properties are closer to bus station and within a mile from train station and highway. I'm still evaluating my options and decided to go slow. It