All Forum Posts by: Gregory Fazio

Hey William,

Welcome!! I recently started getting back into the forums here but have listened to every podcast episode. I think you will find the forums extremely helpful as well. Everyone is so willing to share their experience and advice. Please feel free to message me directly too and I can tell you about my experience. I've only been investing for a few years but happy to share any advice I've learned along the way.

Best of luck on your journey!

-Greg

Vlad,

You will have the ability to renegotiate the deal if the appraisal comes in below the purchase price. Sometimes this can be a great thing for a buyer in a hot market. If your RE agent is using the stand NJAR contract of sale, then the appraisal contingency is built into this. Also, most good real estate attorneys will amend the contract in attorney review to protect your best interests. They may word this appraisal contingency in their own professional verbiage. 

I wouldn't worry too much about bringing this up in your initial offer. If you are bidding against multiple other buyers, you don't want to bring anything to the seller's attention that might put them off from your offer.

I recently experienced this with one of my buyers. Once the appraisal came in significantly lower, he had the opportunity to cancel the deal or renegotiate as the contract and the attorney review letters stated. We were able to negotiate the purchase price down $25k off the initially agreed upon purchase price.

@Annchen Knodt Thanks!!

Hello BP friends,

I am currently seeking out opportunities to buy real estate in north / central Jersey using seller financing but need some help. The reason I am interested in this is because I don't have a ton of cash to put down but I want to acquire more properties even if it means paying a little bit of a higher rate and/or price. 

I imagine this situation works best when buying from another investor who is looking to offload their properties but still have monthly income coming in. However, when dealing with a seller that you know owns the home outright, what is a very simplistic way to explain seller financing, what the process looks like, and the benefit to the seller?

I would love to pitch this to sellers in my area but want to keep it as simple as possible. Anyone have experience with this? Is it even worth trying to pitch it to someone who doesn't even know what it is?

Thanks for any and all input!

Just out of curiosity, have you asked for a larger credit at closing? At what number does the deal still make sense? If the seller were to credit you $50,000+ at closing out of the proceeds, does that give you the cash to handle the issues at hand?

This might be an easier route than backing out of the deal. But yes definitely consult an attorney who litigates so you know what that process might look like.

Hi Andre, 

If you have a good deal and you know the numbers will work (maybe the 70% rule), finding the financing shouldn't be too hard. I believe similar to what Robert is saying, if you have good credit and a good debt-income ratio, you could use traditional financing (i.e. a bank, mortgage lender) to get a construction loan. These are also known as 203k loans. Some of them only require 3.5%-5% down but I've heard they require a lot of paperwork and you need to find a licensed contractor who has experience with this type of financing.

Otherwise there are definitely private lenders out there who may offer a fix and flip loan. I have come across a lender in the past who offered this type of loan. The only requirements were 10% down, a credit check (620+) and of course they would have an appraisal done to make sure there is the money you think there is in the deal (value of the home now + renovation cost < estimated ARV).

Start talking about real estate in your day to day conversations. You might find a private lender from someone unexpected! 

Best of luck!

Hi @Mark F.! Just wanted to say congratulations. I just bought my first home in NJ recently too and am now living rent free with my roommates paying the rent. Definitely an amazing feeling. Congrats again, we've both officially been bit by the bug.  Only great things to come!!

Thank you to both of you @Daniel Vandenbos and @Robert Webb. Will definitely check out the podcast episode and will DM with any questions.

Hi All!

I will keep this short and sweet if possible.

Thanks to BiggerPockets I got back into real estate sales a couple years ago and finally bought my first "house hack" on a single family home by developing a relationship with a mentor/partner. While I am growing my sales business now, in the long run I could see my focus shift more towards investments and being an investor-friendly agent.

Since I've made solid connections, educated myself and bought my first property I really feel like I got the boulder moving and am excited to see what the future holds.

My focus now is buying multi-families in Somerset County and other nearby counties. In order to do so I will need to continue partnering with this mentor or other new people. 

What I need:

1.) An attorney who could help me draft an operating agreement for my current partnership and future partnerships.

2.) A real-estate savvy CPA who could advise and assist me on the tax-side of things. Now only owning one property my taxes should be relatively simple but I want to make sure I set myself up in the best way possible now before I own a real estate empire :)

Any recommendations are greatly appreciated! For any newbies who might be trying to figure out how to get started in NJ (or anywhere for that matter), I would be happy to tell you more details about my journey thus far! Just DM me and I will try share whatever knowledge I've gained along the way.

Thank you,

-Greg

@Christopher Phillips Thanks for your response Christopher. I just find it scary to use a private/hard money lender and buy a foreclosure when you're not exactly sure what you're going to buy. I would really need to find a great deal to make BRRRR work. But I guess that is anywhere and not just NJ. Thanks again.