All Forum Posts by: Dominic Rosato

Cash flowing in Jersey City?? Thats awesome, congrats! Paying down principal can be a good idea, if it's your primary residence, you are extremely risk averse, and are not planning to purchase new investments anytime soon. BiggerPockets users don't usually fit that description (me included).

Building your emergency fund and fixing up the property would be a great use for that extra cash flow. I'm sure you'll thank yourself later!

While something IS better than nothing, I wouldn't lock up all of your cash in one deal. The ability to use leverage (ie other people's money) is perhaps the best quality of real estate investing that makes it so much more appealing than simply investing in the stock market.

Compare putting all of your cash into one house v.s. putting it all into the S&P 500. You'd have similar returns and MUCH less stress investing in stocks (or bonds these days).

From my experience in the areas near NYC (like Hoboken, JC, etc.), the tenant is almost always responsible for the fee. In such a competitive market, landlords don't have to make that concession. Plus, it's standard practice in the city, and spills over to NJ. This seems to be a very market-specific thing, though. 

Around here, tenants have to put in some work (and get lucky) if they want to avoid the broker fee:

1) Constantly search on Google for no-fee apartments and contact the owner directly

2) With larger apartment buildings, they can usually contact their leasing office directly and sometimes avoid at least some of the broker fee

You may have already done this, but I'd try analyzing the other apartments listed near yours and find out who they're charging the broker fee to. Like I said, this seems to be a very dependent on which market you're in. Good luck!

If you're just looking for a quick estimate, try taking a video of the property during a walkthrough and sending it to your contractor, along with a general gist of what needs to be done.

As for finding a contractor, I'd ask fellow investors - that could be your realtor, lender, friends/coworkers, people you meet at meetups, etc.

I'm fairly new to homeownership myself, but the advice I'd give is to be realistic with yourself when touring properties. One thing that I noticed- It's easy to subconsciously block out the issues with a property and focus on the good parts (because subconsciously you want it to work out!). Especially if you're a glass half full guy, it's easy to put on the blinders and ignore the moldy smell in the basement, or water stains on the ceiling. Those things cost time and money!

Good luck!

Lots of great advice in this thread. I also felt overwhelmed getting started, however once you start connecting with professionals, like a realtor and lender, they will quickly help you realize what's realistic and whats a pipe dream (at least for now).

My house hacking plan had MANY variations before I finally settled on a neighborhood / property type. A good realtor will help guide you through the decision making process and hold you accountable to your investing goals.

Best of luck!

If you want low crime AND (somewhat) affordable 2 family properties, your best bet might be Bayonne. Specifically near the Light Rail stations, you'd have easy access to Jersey City, Hoboken & NYC. I also would bet on an appreciation to boom in the next 10 years, like Jersey City has. Take one drive through and you'll see they've got luxury apartment buildings going up on every corner, and a massive Hollywood-style film studio planned, which is going to add 3,000+ jobs to the city - https://www.tapinto.net/towns/bayonne/sections/government/ar...

You also should check out Stephen Gregg Park - It's a little further from the Light Rail stations but a true gem of Bayonne. Probably the nicest area to live, if I had to choose.

Love this post, thanks for this. When I was buying my first property a few months ago, it was easy to fall into the mindset of wanting to time the market and buy the dip. One question I'd ask myself that always helped me snap out of it- "When I look back in 30 years, am I going to regret this decision?"

The obvious answer - NO - I'm sure I'll be thanking myself for jumping in head first!

Have you considered pulling equity out of the California house and rolling it into a Charlotte investment?

I was in your exact position not too long ago and have two thoughts:

1) As the two guys above me said, definitely try to live at home as long as possible, you’ll build up more savings in 1 year than a lot of people can in 5.
2) Just take your plan one step at a time and focus on what you can control, ie working hard, saving money, listening to podcasts and books, etc.  When the time comes to buy, you’ll be ready.