All Forum Posts by: Mark J.

@Kris Hubert yeah, I think the area has potential especially if you're familiar with it.  I'm not right now and almost everything I could find on the forums was a little discouraging.  Compared to the rest of that area of NJ it seems you can get deals, but will probably have to spend some energy making sure you get good tenants.  Will check out those areas you mentioned near the trains.  Best of luck!

I think if the cash flow numbers work, then the heights is a good place to be. I think it will still appreciate nicely long term, but the rate of apprecition in the last few years has kind of topped it out for awhile I think. Theres still a lot of great properties there, but easy access to nyc can be limited.

Hello Fellow BPers,

Can anyone recommend a good real estate attorney that works within the Lehigh County area, specifically Easton.   I don't need anything complicated just solid guidance with contracts,  laws, due diligence, etc. to ensure I'm following procedure and not overlooking anything.

Thanks

@Andrew Galeano congrats!  Nice work getting creative and making the numbers work.  I would imagine over the next 5 years you'll also see some nice appreciation and sounds like you're already forcing appreciation.

What area/neighborhood of JC?

Did you find this yourself through the MLS?

@Ari Bildner Best of luck!

@Eric D. Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm guessing those properties didn't meet most of the rules of thumb, but sounds like it's cash flowing pretty good and I'm sure appreciating. Did you find them on a website like Realtor.com or from the official MLS?

Thanks for the honesty about the pain of owning a 2 or 3 family, not something people talk about very often.  Do you live close to them? Do you think if you had a PM it would relieve the pain?

Feel like to get a complex you would have to go out of state or west or partner with other investors.  With the equity you have I would imagine you could easily trade up to a small complex in a more affordable area.

I also want to learn more about off market opportunities.  I want to try out mailers.  I also was going to the Hudson County sheriff's sale last weekend, but missed.  Think this is for more experienced investors, but interested in seeing the reality of.  

Agree about the competition in the area.  There's a lot of money coming from NY and surrounding areas, and a lot of people working real estate full time trying to get that money and also invest.  Sounds like you've been able to figure something out.  

Someone mentioned to me that if you buy something (not anything) in this area in 10 years from now it should turn out to be a good investment.  Very simple, but I think like you mentioned it's a long term appreciation game in this area.  This seems to kind of be a common sentiment.  One of the only guests on the BP podcast, that I've heard, that bets on appreciation is Darren Sager, who is also from this area.

@Ari Bildner Good luck Ari!  Share your experience and findings as you dig deeper into Newark and the surrounding areas.

@William Kwong Makes sense about Greenville- have you done any flips in the area?

Yeah, I think the Heights still has potential, especially for a house hack.  Same, I haven't seen much that would make sense as a buy and hold.  I've found a lot properties that look good on paper, but aren't  that accessible to NYC- really nice properties (warehouse lofts, brownstones, etc.), but they're a 20+ min walk to a train.  Sounds like you got a jump start on the area?  

Are you saying they're knocking down the converted condos or converting 2 families to condos?  Agree...seems like a lot of heavy hitters in JC right now.  I would imagine a lot of investors that made/have tried to make money in BK are moving west and driving prices up. 

It seems B-L has a few nice streets, but a lot that aren't so nice.  Doesn't seem like the neighborhood has really been built up.  From what I've seen there's not many neighborhood spots to "go-out", shop, hang out, family activities, food destinations, etc.  I would imagine at some point the city will have to pump some money into the area to make it appealing for businesses and residents.  It has good access to NYC, so only makes sense for people to expand into that area given the prices of the surrounding areas.  Prices still seem pretty high for what you get.

I'm actually liking Bayonne as an area as well.  Prices seem similar to B-L, but the area seems a little more commercialized and built out.  I've heard some say it's the Staten Island of NJ, but I'm ok with that.  I've read the taxes are high, which is a deterrent.  I would imagine there won't be as much appreciation there as Jersey City.

Thanks for the tip on direct marketing and wholesalers.  Have you had success with it? Need to learn more about both channels, specifically want to try out mailers.  Seems like a lot of work and the pay off is unknown.  Let me know if you come across any deals that you're not able to move on or need more resources to make work, would love to figure out something close to home.

Going to look into those areas in Newark.  Newark sounds like it has potential from what I've read on the boards.  I've only driven through Broad street, which seems a "little" chaotic and distressed.  It would make sense that the area evolves in the next 5-10 years given it's a hub for western NJ coming into NYC.  EO seems to have potential on paper.  I've driven through some of the areas and they seem ok, mostly quite, with some street activity, but everything I've been able to find says it's rough or stagnant area, especially for tenants.  Seems like it's for investors experienced in the area.

@Diane Perry Nashville seems/is a hot area...if you know it, you may want to look for more opportunities there. 

For financing tips I'd reach out to other forum members and read up on the different strategies.  There's a lot of options.  For myself, at this point I'm focused on conventional.

@Farooq Ahmed  I've looked into "Sheriff's Sales", but have never been to one.  This is where you can find auction properties within your county.  

If you google your county and "Sheriff Sale" you should find a website that lists the dates and times of auctions as well as a list of properties that will be auctioned that day.  Search the forum and site for Sheriff's Sale and I'm sure you'll find some good insight from investors with experience with them.

@Casida Caines Hi- did you end up looking further into EO?  Did you invest there?  

I'm looking into the area- as you mentioned the price to rent ratio looks good on paper.  I've driven around a little and it seems fairly quite/suburban, but doesn't look like there's much going on and from almost everything I've read it seems to be a tough rental market.

@Diane Perry Congrats on the success in Nashville.  Is it a turn key or do you have connections in the market?

Agree on the taxes.  A lot of the places I've seen have had taxes of 8K-10K a year, which could eat up a lot of cash pretty quickly.  Definitely a big factor when considering holding costs.  I don't have much experience with major renovation projects, so will stay away from that for now, but that seems to be where money can be made.

Also worry about the demand when going further west and/or south, but it seems the key to make sure you're close to major transportation lines from what I've read/heard.

Yeah, there are a lot of beautiful, historic buildings in NJ that just need renovation/upkeep.  Recently was exploring the Bergen-Lafeyette areas of Jersey City and noticed a couple of blocks lined in some really nice Brownstones.  I think, like us, there are a lot of people attracted to these buildings because of the character and potential, so it can tend to drive the prices up.  This is definitely the case in downtown JC.  The problem with some of these areas is it could be a beautiful building and street, but be 5-10 mins too far from the trains lines or any type social community turning a 15-20 minute walk into a 20-25 min walk, usually through a not so great area.

I'm sure there are others on the board that are way more familiar and could provide better insight.

@Ryan H. Thanks for sharing your experience.  I've looked a little at Bergen County.  Looks like there are some nice areas and right next to the city.  Prices seem a little high, so makes sense that there would be more opportunities for fix and flips.

Are you investing further west or try to stay near the Hudson?