All Forum Posts by: Doug Minton

@Lavaud Charlemagne  I sent you a connection request. We have a mastermind group in West Orange. You should join. We share a lot of information that will assist you in your investing efforts.

@Debbie Plesz I am no attorney, but since he is living in the same property with you, would you say that you are in fear for your life? I only ask this because you said he came back drunk and kicked in a door. 

"He came home at 3am, drunk and kicked my door in and damaged all my screens. He was arrested."

With that said, if I were you I would contact an attorney to see if you can get a restraining order. 

@Dan P. Thank you sir! I didn't know that. Good information. 

FHA has changed a bit with new regulations. 1. You need 3.5% down. Used to be 3%. 2. There is seasoning, but I can't remember if it's 3 to 5 years, or less without paying penalties. You should talk to a mortgage broker for those terms. 3. You will have to pay PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance) for the life of the loan. It used to be that once you reached 20% equity in your home that you could get rid of the PMI. That is not the case anymore.

So, FHA has it advantages with the low down payment option, but the PMI is con in my opinion. So, I would recommend that if you could do FHA, that you stay in the home for a year and fix it up, then Re Fi out with a conventional mortgage. Again, talk to you mortgage broker to confirm that you won't get hit with any penalties when you Re-Fi.

Veronica,

I live in West Orange, and know investor who invest in Newark. I have invested in Rochester, NY, and when comparing the two areas, I feel they are pretty much the same. As an agent, I get calls from people who need section 8 housing, and if you invest right, and screen properly, you can have good tenants and reap the rewards of an investor. So here are some suggestions on where to start.

1. Get involved with the REIA's in the area. I can assist you with those.

2. Develop your criteria for buying your investment property. ( One of my clients is an all cash buyer who only wants to invest, all in, 150k on a single family, or multi-family in Bloomfield, Nutley, or Montclair. She wants to get at least $2200 for rent. This is her crtiteria. What's yours?)

3. Research your area to find what fits your criteria, then start evaluating the properties. Eventually, you will know when you found a good deal, and that will spark a fire in you to invest.

4. Find a mentor, or a mastermind group to be a part of, so that you can have someone hold you accountable for your actions. (I actually have a small mastermind group that meets in West Orange. We are actively marketing in our target areas.)

So, the last thing I will say is get educated and eliminate your fears. There are a lot of myths out there, so get to the truth. Fear as an acronym stands for False Evidence Appearing Real F.E.A.R.. So, follow the above steps and get moving! I will also send you a college request. We should connect.

Hey Clint,

I am an investor and a real estate agent, and I just so happen to live in West Orange. We should connect. 

Let me know if you want to connect, and we can meet up at Panera in Essex Green. 

Doug 

@Florian N. Awesome! Thanks!

@Florian N. Thank you sir! I assume that you are investing in that area, correct? Or do you invest in some other towns in Lackawanna county? 

Hello all,

I received a call from a yellow letter I sent out over a year ago. They are in Jessup, PA and I am not really familiar with that area. Is anybody out there investing in Jessup, PA, or in Lackawanna County?

First let me say congrats! Me personally an partial to Keller Williams. I've been with them for over a year now and they have some outstanding training. I talked to other agents who started out, and their brokers didn't train them at all. 

Give me a call if you want some more info, or go to the link below.

www.redcareers.com/clifton/douglasminton/index.php