All Forum Posts by: Mateusz Prawdzik

@Nir Levy All the areas that have been mentioned in the thread are great, if you can manage to find a deal. Being newer to the scene and to the area, I would stick with areas that are well saturated with big guys that are well-known. Though, that is difficult to say now as most of Northern and Central Jersey is taken, there is more deals as you go away from the river. I would come to areas that I would work in like Bergen county, union, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, parts of Essex. Everywhere you look, everyone and their mothers are in the business now, but I think you will have x10 easier time finding deals in the these areas. Reach out if you have any questions, I have been rather successful in finding deals in the above counties and I would be willing to help you out the best I could with questions you might have. 

@Sveta Vucetic It's all about hustle and getting it done. For those that know my story, they can definitely vouch for that. The one problem that most people have is A. Sourcing leads and getting deals and B. Capital for funding, Are you having problems with only A or B as well? If you are relying on only realtors to bring you deals, you are going to be spinning wheels for years not to mention wheels. Off-Market deals are the best way to go, only the big guys and the real deal people get first pick on the REALLY good off-market deals, so target those people and try to affiliate with them more. Any more questions, please reach out to me. I would be glad to help you out. 

@Jake Recz IF you find a house in garfield for 50k... send it to me. I have never seen them yet so I can tell you what's going on. Regardless most of my deals are pre listings or off market deals. I don't get into bidding wars, not worth the time if I know there will be another deal down the line where I can buy for 50-65 cents on the dollar. 

@Andriy Boychuk The Method that @Matthew Paul is explaining is called pipe bursting. Some of the companies even just cut out a whole on the street and them hammer a new poly pipe thru the ground from the water shut off on the street to the foundation of the house and then just do what I said and abandon the old pipe and hook up the new pipe. They use a special pressure machine to do that and it takes a couple of hours and no digging required for it. But then once again, permits will need to be pulled and everything will need to be done as far as inspections and such. That method, though a lot easier and less headache, comes out to be more expensive than just getting 3 guys to dig and then get a plumber to replace the line. That is just my 2 cents from doing it and experiencing it 3 times.

@John Thedford The reason why the closing costs are so high is because that $$ includes the down payment that he would need to put to close the deal... along with the points and attorney fees. 

@Sean Blomquist 80%!?!?!?! is that how crazy this market is getting that now buying 80 cents on the dollar makes sense? WOW, I usually say anything over 60%... I am not taking it.

@Jarred Watley Hard money Lenders are not in the business of taking risk... That is the first thing. Secondly, they do the apprasial to avoid any mistakes or bullsh!t that agents try to tell people in order to get the sale at the end. Remember, just because she/he says its 100-110k.. doesn't mean it's true.. I had this happen to me many times, one agent tells me "yea we can EASILY sell this house for 260k... and then I talk to 2 other agents and they both say 210-220k.." Happened many times, always get opinions from ATLEAST BARE MINIMUM 3-4 agents, and never mention the price the previous agent said to not spark bias.

Any other questions with hard money or REI , let me know. I am always here.

I hope I can make it too @David Lichtenstadter but no promises since this is in Brooklyn

@Matt Romano If you want to change it and the numbers still work after the ~$4000 investment. Do it, it will save lots of costs down the line and you can entice future renters that are coming in with the new heating system that you put in.

Most places don't have separate water meters. I know some places do, but most of them don't. But then again, water is not that expensive, you're probably at around 500-800$ for the year depending on how you use of course. 

I would change it personally, if it won't cause too much a headache for the tenant there with the contractor coming in and doing it, if the plumber knows what he is doing .... 2 days max depending on how many electric ones he needs. He doesn't even need to connect them all which is great, the electrician comes and wires all of them to a thermostat and thats it.

@Fahima Hilal Hey, I Pm'd you. The deal doesn't seem too bad if you do the necessary things to it... as a buy and hold, I wouldn't take it because your cash flow would be very small relative to your investment and you have to incorporate a vacancy rate and all the expenses associated with the property (not only reserves for repairs)... 

@Andriy Boychuk Back then they use to do cooper, nowadays it should be Poly. I Don't know anyone that does PEX from the curb to the house... I've only seen Cooper or Poly. Just make sure that you call the water company because you aren't legally allowed to connect the Poly to the curb valve.. Well atleast in NJ you're not. 

If you're going to do it in a weekend and not take permits... Just do it fast, cover the whole and call it day. I've done it couple of times, it takes one day... Get 3 guys to dig the whole (usually 36 inches or 48 inches) cut the old pipe in the house and by the curb, abandon in, and then just put a new one.

@Jonah Walsh To be specific and answer your question... This is really area specific question... Some towns have cap rates that others don't. You can't ask that type of question on a general basis. But to be VERY GENERAL with you... a good cap rate is like 12-15%.. and a GOOD COC Return is about 20-25%... This is really good and most times very hard to find with deals that are on the market.

Don't jump into a deal that has mediocre returns, if you always look, there will always be a deal out there, you just have to keep looking. If you are experienced and well-known, people will always bring you deals. You have to be in a position where you can cherry pick properties before they get blasted out the "buyers list" of wholesalers... You can't be on the buyers list or you'll be stuck competing against 100-200 investors that want the property as well. 

Just like @Brent Coombs said,, BARGAINS ONLY