All Forum Posts by: Heather DeGeorge

I'm from NE NJ and we have held and managed property out of state (specifically Baltimore).  At the time, we'd already had 2 properties under our belt and the commute was roughly 2-1/2 to 3 hours.  Here are some of the things you need to prepare for:

• If you are completely new, expect to travel--and figure out how traveling last minute would be funded (flyer miles, hotel points, etc.).  At minimum, you will need to travel initially to get the lay of the land: property manager, possibly contractors, get a feel for neighborhoods, etc.
• Absolutely call references for property management companies.  Repeat:  absolutely call references for property management companies.
• Find a local REAL ESTATE attorney and meet with them BEFORE you buy a property.  Pay for that hour.  One of the things we found out the hard way was that we couldn't have an operable fireplace in a rental unit.  Whaaaaaat...?  We happened to BUY a place with an operable fireplace.
• Talk to a local insurance agent and find out the realities that go with insuring a place that might sit empty for any period of time for an out of state landlord.
• Buy a local street map and take notes.  We usually spend a few days driving the local streets and outlining areas that we feel okay about and places we just don't or things that worry us (stream nearby, etc.)
• Subscribe to the local paper (real or online).  Keep up on what's going on to the area so you can evaluate how it might affect your holdings.

The local REIA chapter is a good place to find a lot of this info. They often allow you to attend one member meeting free before joining and you might actually be able to make enough contacts that once to make a difference.

Someone else can better help you navigate finding a landing place to buy.  That's not really my expertise.  We had intended to relocate to Baltimore and found the rental while looking for a primary residence but then wound up being unable to move.  So we weren't intentionally remote landlords.

I think we would need more information about your girlfriend to answer, really.  Do you mean "how does she make use of this degree doing a 9-5 in real estate"?  I have a BS in Business as well and frankly, I don't see where it's ever been of a great deal of use in either real estate or my corporate work.  I mean, beyond some economics (but I grew up with an economist).  If she's looking for a 9-5, she just needs to figure out what her actual skill set is and what she's qualified to do in terms of her actual skills and then just limit her search to various types of real estate related companies (including financial services companies that do REITs).  A search of "real estate" in any job search engine should help. 

What she might want to do is keep track of the work she does as it might apply to a project management certification.  There is a lower level certification now (CAPM--see info here:  http://www.pmi.org/certification/certified-associate-project-management-capm.aspx) that she may be able to fulfill pretty quickly and may help lend some credibility to your ability to complete a project on time, within budget (and within scope) to a potential lender.  You can get a master's in project management but you can also just get a master's certificate (mine is from George Washington University).  And if she wants, she could work up to a PMP certification if you guys find that having that expertise is even remotely helpful.  I find my project management education to be way more relevant and helpful than my undergrad, but they don't have project management as an undergrad option. ;)  Also, project management opens a lot of doors for consulting work and side work if/when needed; and gives you something to market yourself to other investors who need help keeping their projects on track.

Good luck to you both!  If she has questions about project management, message me.  I've been a certified PMP for 16 years and I pay dearly to maintain it because I find it to be a good thing to have!

@Jerry Bliss--this is where knowing your turf comes in VERY handy.  We own in DuPage county and one right over the line in Will... all SF homes.  But we know that the type of properties and school districts we own will be a draw to corporate transfers in the countless very large companies along the 88 corridor.  So far, our rental prices continue to rise.

Know your market.  Especially so that when these things happen, you can analyze how they may affect your market.

@Brandon Timm - find a mortgage broker and talk to them about what you qualify for and what you can afford in terms of financing.  From there, go hunting.  If you find something that really works (numbers and your own personal parameters) but doesn't fall in line with the mortgage broker you're working with--look for a new lender.  But at least you'll have a starting point.  My husband and I have house hacked even up through our late 30s.  It's a method that can totally work well for you and there may even be some tax advantages depending on the type of property, how long you live there, and how long you own it.

Mom being an agent can be a double-edged sword.  My dad was a broker, agent and appraiser for most of my life and we often had different ideas of what was worthy of seeing or investing in.  I currently own more property than he has ever owned at once and in the last 15 years have owned more properties than he ever has and I don't even own a lot by anyone's standards.  But our property investments have often saved us in times when our full-time gigs went under... so... I feel semi-vindicated. ;) 

One thing that's served us well and will doubly serve you well here is that we never wanted to own in an area we wouldn't live in. So if you find a place where the numbers work but you're worried about your safety or something, step back.  It might take you a while to find a property where all the pieces fit--but it will happen and you'll be a lot happier in the long-run.

If you know an accountant by way of your family, make sure you consider your potential tax write-offs and how that might affect your tax withholding scenario.  Sometimes, you can adjust the withholding on your full-time gig (if you have one) to give you more money in your paycheck rather than as a refund at the end of the year based on your proposed deductions.  We still check in with our accountant in roughly July/August to talk about the landscape of our finances through the end of the year and see about adjusting withholding.  We shoot to get no more than $1k back in refunds and instead--change withholding to increase our cashflow during the year.  That can be a big help.

And I can't reiterate enough to be mindful of your reserves or at least access to reserves.  Also, have more than one backout plan because "I'll just sell it" is not always possible--even if you own a single family in a great market area.

Best of luck to you!  Welcome to BP!

There is really nothing you can't learn on BiggerPockets.  Become fluent in the search function and know that while there is plenty of good information here available to you free of charge, there will also be people looking to suck you in.  Read everything you can.  There is plenty of great, free information here!

For future reference, we have a clause in our standard lease that anyone that resides there more than 3 weeks is considered a resident and has to go through the background check.  We are actually in this position right now as we are about to lease to a single woman whose college age son will be living with her in the summers--she we had to do his background check, too.  Just make sure you run these alterations of your lease through a local lawyer who is familiar down to the county and town codes for what's legal.

I would agree with this for the most. We have a SFH in Naperville, but it's Will Co. so it's more profitable than nearly the same home in Aurora (but DuPage county and 204 schools) mostly because of the property taxes. It's also a lot easier to get out of these properties because they have better retail marketability if you are careful where you are buying. And there are still plenty of foreclosures/REOs in the area.

Welcome, @Michael Valente!  We're out in the Western 'burbs but look forward to reading your input.

@Alex T. - we are from NJ originally (mostly Union, Middlesex and North Plainfield/Somerset Co.) and I agree that $70k sounds a bit high and on the other hand--if the contractors are busy or they smell inexperience--they'll push up the price.  Especially if they think you don't actually know how to do these things and can then further drive up the costs.

Roselle's housing stock is widely varied in age.  I think your contingency fund should be commensurate with the age of the place.  And definitely test for mold.

Agreed that you and some buddies could bang out the painting pretty well on your own.  Do that before the flooring in case you make a mess.

I'm not sure I'd bother tiling the basement unless the basement is finished and you can't do carpet (and I'd do a softer indoor/outdoor down there)

As for the kitchen--do you really need new cabinets or can they be salvaged?  I've paid to have cabinets painted to save myself a couple thousand dollars.  Also, if you're set on granite--go look for that first and ask what they're looking to unload at the cheapest prices.  From there, you can build the color scheme around that.  We pretty much always look for the cheap granite first and see if it's do-able and if it's not heinous--we work the kitchen design around that.  

Same for the bathroom tiling--is it just ugly or is it broken?  If it's ugly, I would sooner have it painted and I hear the kits are actually pretty good, but it depends on the setup there and what you really need/what the situation is.

It might be cheaper to carpet the stairs than to restain them and get them to match the rest of the flooring.

Lumber Liquidators runs crazy deals on laminate and it is NOT HARD to learn how to do.  Seriously.  And it goes pretty quick.  Just be sure to calculate it with waste.  But it doesn't require much in the way of materials.

Hope this helps!  My family lived in Roselle from the early 1900s through the 1980s.  I attended Kindergarten there.  :)

Welcome @Catherine Dickerson!  Be sure to search the forums for "Joliet" to give you some good insights or new ways to manage what you have there!