All Forum Posts by: Lamont Chen
Lamont Chen has started 0 posts and replied 170 times.
Post: Please Help Me Analyze MY FIRST DEAL EVER :)

- Realtor
- Hudson County, NJ
- Posts 176
- Votes 110
Congrats on starting the journey.
There are other expenses to factor in such as utilities, repairs, property management, capex, etc. which will eat into your CoC return.
Post: Using Turnkey companies

- Realtor
- Hudson County, NJ
- Posts 176
- Votes 110
Depending on what you feel comfortable with... some people use turnkey companies or syndicates for their investment. Typically you are paying a little bit more for a turnkey property but it comes with the added convenience.
Others may prefer to BRRRR themselves for 5-10% or infinite CoC return.
Post: Tenant behind on monthly rent

- Realtor
- Hudson County, NJ
- Posts 176
- Votes 110
You can try to ask the seller to request the tenants to leave via cash for keys and wrap up the cost to evict the tenants prior to closing. That way you will have an opportunity to fix the units up and select tenants which meet your criteria.
Post: Flood zone properties

- Realtor
- Hudson County, NJ
- Posts 176
- Votes 110
Depending on where the property is w.r.t. the flood zone there is a % change of flooding.
You can also try to get any disclosure from the seller to see if the property ever flooded.
Post: Should I get extra insurance for a condo?

- Realtor
- Hudson County, NJ
- Posts 176
- Votes 110
You can check what coverage your HOA is responsible for and compare against a standard coverage from a local provider. The local provider may be able to tell you what "common" issues occur that they would cover vs your HOA.
Post: Lendering / refinancing on all cash deal

- Realtor
- Hudson County, NJ
- Posts 176
- Votes 110
If you are going to go this route I believe you should look to purchase something for 130k (all cash) and renovate for 50k (or some amount) so that it would appraise for ~250k?
You can then refinance and pull out your initial 180k and have 70k in the property to satisfy banks LTV requirements (75-80%).
Post: Paying 100% Cash for a Property, then get a Mortgage

- Realtor
- Hudson County, NJ
- Posts 176
- Votes 110
All cash offers are pretty attractive to sellers because it allows for the sales transactions to go smoothly and you would not pay any loan related fees up front. If you have the funds you can purchase the property all cash, fix it up, and refinance to a 30 year loan.
If you do not have funds to do both purchase and renovation you can buy the property with a FHA or conventional loan, fix it up, and refinance to hopefully pull out all your initial investment.
Good luck!
Post: Does This Deal Make Sense (Purchasing First Duplex)

- Realtor
- Hudson County, NJ
- Posts 176
- Votes 110
Not sure what area you are in but is there any opportunity to fix up the place and get rents to $1400? Perhaps the appraisers $1200 estimate is based on the current condition. If you are working with another agent you can check what comparable rental listings rented for.
Also, if you factored in 8-10% property management you would probably be breaking even every month but there are definitely factors which will help you long term like rent and home appreciation. 30 years is a long time to self manage so something to think about but rents should increase year over year so you may be ok.
Good luck!
Post: What is a good COC% for a BRRRR?

- Realtor
- Hudson County, NJ
- Posts 176
- Votes 110
Depends on what works for you for the area. Some areas may anticipate more appreciation than cash flow (A class) vs other areas where cash flow is better but appreciation not so much (class C and D).
Some investors do not take deals which do not have 10%+ CoC return while others are ok with a 5% CoC return.
Post: Looking at a live in flip, looks like a killer deal

- Realtor
- Hudson County, NJ
- Posts 176
- Votes 110
Looks like with a 50k rehab you still have 25-30% equity buffer for this deal which is good.
Since it has been on the market for 3 years and has been FSBO you can try to contact the owner to see if there are any disclosures for the property. Maybe there is large foundation issue which has been scaring off potential buyers but regardless you should get a home inspection.