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All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Greene

Jonathan Greene has started 268 posts and replied 6448 times.

Post: How To Start a Syndication ?

Jonathan Greene
#5 Starting Out Contributor
Posted
  • Real Estate Consultant
  • Mendham, NJ
  • Posts 6,659
  • Votes 7,636

It sounds like you could just do a partnership with two other people. There is no reason to look to syndications if you want to buy soon because it takes a long time to get all of the things in order. Tilden Moschetti is a good follow, he is a syndication attorney who does syndications hiimself.

Post: International vacation rentals

Jonathan Greene
#5 Starting Out Contributor
Posted
  • Real Estate Consultant
  • Mendham, NJ
  • Posts 6,659
  • Votes 7,636

The regulations are different for each country and most will not cash flow as an out-of-country investor. If you want to learn more about each country, look up The Wandering Investor, Ladislas Maurice. He has tons of videos on each country and the viability of the asset for people buying internationally.

Post: What drives you to aim to attain super wealth?

Jonathan Greene
#5 Starting Out Contributor
Posted
  • Real Estate Consultant
  • Mendham, NJ
  • Posts 6,659
  • Votes 7,636

This post makes no sense. I don't think the windfall is as big as you say, or why would you care about large downpayments on income-producing assets that would appreciate over time? How old are you that you want semi-retire? I think you need a lot more money than you think to live out the rest of your life if your plan is to just work part-time and have low-stress. 

Post: Strategies for second property

Jonathan Greene
#5 Starting Out Contributor
Posted
  • Real Estate Consultant
  • Mendham, NJ
  • Posts 6,659
  • Votes 7,636

It sounds like you are trying to buy a second property with less of a downpayment than 20 percent. Is that right? You don't want to lose your rate on the house you are living in now unless you want to sell it so since that is an owner-occupied, you need to stay there and save up the 20 percent for the second property based on what you said. If you can buy with 20 percent an hour away, as you said, that seems like the best option if the finances and numbers work for you.

Post: Would like Suggestions on Foreclosure Buying

Jonathan Greene
#5 Starting Out Contributor
Posted
  • Real Estate Consultant
  • Mendham, NJ
  • Posts 6,659
  • Votes 7,636
Quote from @Jay Hinrichs:
Quote from @Jonathan Greene:
Quote from @Duncan Forbes:

Hey Everyone!

Hope all is well. My name is Duncan Forbes, I am starting my real estate journey in Westchester NY. I am not necessarily that new in the Real Estate industry because I have a place in Tulum Mexico, Condo as a short term rental. 

I am planning on selling my Condo in Tulum, and looking to buy a fixer upper in westchester. About Westchester, NY:
- One of the most expensive places in the US, maybe the world
- Supply is VERY low
- Houses are no less than like $600k-$700k, I'm also getting outbid a lot.
- Now Foreclosures may be a good discount but at the same time I already know that there is aLOT more risk to this.

I already have a real estate agent, a mortgage broker, and am getting connections to contractors and so forth.

My few Questions are:

- Do I need a real estate agent in this process for foreclosures?

- Are there any resources / you tube vidoes/ or additional BP Videos I should be looking at

- If anyone is so kind, would anyone be able to give me a tutoring lesson for any hour, and if so, I am willing to throw a little money for their time. Thank you!


The best advice is don't.

1. You need all cash.

2. You can't see the property before if it's a true foreclosure so you are bidding blind.

3. All liens will not be confirmed prior to the sale.

4. Tenancies are subject to your removal so if there are squatters, good luck.

People usually look to foreclosures because they think they are cheaper, but foreclosure buying is not for amateurs. At every foreclosure auction you will find the same cast of characters who know the system. If you win, it's because they wanted you to win and they bid you up.


yup I used to be one of those characters..  there was a group of 8 of us that pooled money in a Cabal myself and one other were the main money guys the others put in smaller amounts and when we won one.. we would divy up interest prorata to the amount contributed.. this kept those guys from competing against us and for sure we bid up newbies .. really the only ones that would beat us were those that wanted to live in the house and would just go almost all the way to retail or above .. or someone bidding on a second thinking it was a first and no one is going to help you if you dont know what your doing.. this is a very caveat emptar bizz. And of course collusion to keep bidding amounts down was alive and well. its illegal as hell but done all the time.. there was a group in NC that got tagged by the FBI back in the middle 2000s and it cost them 800k fine dont think they went to jail though..

Now rural counties and can be a little different but like Jonathan says every market basically has their players..

I used to go to them all the time with my dad growing up and have gone to several as an adult. Everyone knows who the new person is and the goal is always to mess with them and test them and try to get them to spend their money on the junk so we can get the good ones.

Post: Best Course of Actions To Remove a Difficult Tenant

Jonathan Greene
#5 Starting Out Contributor
Posted
  • Real Estate Consultant
  • Mendham, NJ
  • Posts 6,659
  • Votes 7,636

You have some good advice here, but part of what you have to do, in addition to getting him out, is to figure out how you got yourself into this situation. How did you do your due diligence on him before he moved in? 

Post: Would like Suggestions on Foreclosure Buying

Jonathan Greene
#5 Starting Out Contributor
Posted
  • Real Estate Consultant
  • Mendham, NJ
  • Posts 6,659
  • Votes 7,636
Quote from @Duncan Forbes:

Hey Everyone!

Hope all is well. My name is Duncan Forbes, I am starting my real estate journey in Westchester NY. I am not necessarily that new in the Real Estate industry because I have a place in Tulum Mexico, Condo as a short term rental. 

I am planning on selling my Condo in Tulum, and looking to buy a fixer upper in westchester. About Westchester, NY:
- One of the most expensive places in the US, maybe the world
- Supply is VERY low
- Houses are no less than like $600k-$700k, I'm also getting outbid a lot.
- Now Foreclosures may be a good discount but at the same time I already know that there is aLOT more risk to this.

I already have a real estate agent, a mortgage broker, and am getting connections to contractors and so forth.

My few Questions are:

- Do I need a real estate agent in this process for foreclosures?

- Are there any resources / you tube vidoes/ or additional BP Videos I should be looking at

- If anyone is so kind, would anyone be able to give me a tutoring lesson for any hour, and if so, I am willing to throw a little money for their time. Thank you!


The best advice is don't.

1. You need all cash.

2. You can't see the property before if it's a true foreclosure so you are bidding blind.

3. All liens will not be confirmed prior to the sale.

4. Tenancies are subject to your removal so if there are squatters, good luck.

People usually look to foreclosures because they think they are cheaper, but foreclosure buying is not for amateurs. At every foreclosure auction you will find the same cast of characters who know the system. If you win, it's because they wanted you to win and they bid you up.

Post: Alternatives to Comparing Comps

Jonathan Greene
#5 Starting Out Contributor
Posted
  • Real Estate Consultant
  • Mendham, NJ
  • Posts 6,659
  • Votes 7,636

The only way to truly do comps in any market is via MLS access. No realtor is just going to run comps for you unless they are a good friend of yours, and even then, they usually will run them incorrectly. Access to MLS is one of the best reasons for investors to get their license since it's such a low bar to entry and low annual fees for that and access to all dumps on the market. Even in disclosure states, sales data is not all reported to the sites so you need the MLS to be the most accurate.

Post: suggestions for software to catalog properties

Jonathan Greene
#5 Starting Out Contributor
Posted
  • Real Estate Consultant
  • Mendham, NJ
  • Posts 6,659
  • Votes 7,636

I think Highnote dot io could be helpful for what you are looking to do. I use it for catalogs that I want to present to people in bulk with a link. You could create a different Hignote for each property and add photos and docs, etc.

Post: Can STRs Work w/ Restrictions In North Nj / NY Self Managed Lake House or Cabins?

Jonathan Greene
#5 Starting Out Contributor
Posted
  • Real Estate Consultant
  • Mendham, NJ
  • Posts 6,659
  • Votes 7,636
Quote from @Greg Bohn:
Quote from @Jonathan Greene:

The Castkills works well. @Account Closed has multiple STRs there, including one that is a four-plex in the middle of town. Northern NJ has options as well, but MTR works better in a lot of areas because there is demand. Delaware Water Gap is more of a weekender, but can work. Beacon you would want to be near the train and it's priced higher than the Catstkills - same with Hudson. Saugerties and Phoenicia are pretty STR friendly as well.

Hey Jonathan! I'm also interested in purchasing an STR in the Catskills region so I thought I'd jump in! I was doing some research regarding STRs in Phoenicia, NY, and noticed that Phoenicia was a part of the Shandaken Hamlet. The town of Shandaken has some pretty strict rules regarding STRs, requiring a "absent owner" STR to be owned for a year before it can be used as an STR, and also limiting the number of STRs to 100 properties. I'm not sure if these rules apply to Phoenicia, as the STR rules are stated to be for the town of Shandaken, not Shandaken hamlet.

Not sure if you are able to answer this question! Just thought I'd put my two cents in from the research I've been doing. Any information would be great!


I have a good friend who has one or two in Phoenicia, or may have sold one there. I can ask her.