All Forum Posts by: Sebastian Hernandez

Welcome to BP John. This is an amazing resource. Great connecting with you as well. 

follow @Jonathan Greene, he holds some amazing meet-ups. 

Hi Andy, 

nice connecting with you here. I am a buy and hold investor here in north jersey and a contractor.

Hi Amanda, I suggest that the best way to start is buy reading real estate and personal development books. Also, I would suggest start listening to podcast and find meet-ups in your area so that you can network and build connections. Lastly, find a local professionals such as a real estate agent and a lender so you start to understand your specific market. Good luck!

Hi Tara, 

In order for you to switch over to gas you need to verify that a gas line available and accessible to your home. Typically, at least in NJ, the gas company will run the line from the street to your property for few hundred dollars. Then you need to hire a plumber to run the gas line into your home. The next step is to hire an HVAC contractor to upgrade your heating systems (x2) and add meters (x2). The all in costs would likely be between $20-30k. 

I sincerely hope the oil tank is above ground and not underground because that could create additional complications. I also hope you factored into your investment the cost for oil re-fills or the cost of switching over to gas. Lastly, Chris' idea about reducing rent and having tenants split the heating bill could work, you just have to figure out a way around splitting the bill in a fair manner. Is water and electric separate?

Just want to emphasize that buying a multi-family home without separate utilities ca be a big headache and you may be signing up for something you don't want. 

My best wishes! Again, these comments are all with a constructive mindset. 

Congratulations to you and your boyfriend for taking the first great step which is to become part of BP and doing your research. 

It all depends on your goals. If you purchase a multi-family home you could live in one unit and rent the other unit (house-hack), which lowers your living expenses and in some markets could pay-off your mortgage. In addition, a multi-family home would allow you to scale the amount of doors much faster. Also, if you own a single family home and the tenant decides to stop paying rent that could put you in a vulnerable position. On the other hand, with a multi-family home, given there are more than one tenant, you would spread your risk. 

Bottom line, either one can be great investment as long as it helps you get to your end goal! 

@Tiago N Dos Santos What you are experiencing at the moment is very common among all buyers because the inventory is low and we are in a sellers market. 

I strongly believe and I am an example that you can still find a house-hack deal that works even in this market. I bought a turn-key 4/2 duplex in a Netcong for $299k and the current market rent for each unit is $1,700. 

You can too find a good deal if you just hyper focus on one area and become an expert in that area. So that the moment a home gets listed you immediately understand if it’s a good deal or not. The market is moving quickly and being able to act fast will allow you to beat the competition. 

My next suggestion is to focus on sending letters to multi-family property owners in your desired market. You could perhaps get a home off market. You would be surprised about the power of sending letters. I can walk you thru this strategy and show you sample letters I have used.

Ultimately, you must focus in one or two areas and start working on strategies consistently to get your desired home. You can still find a good deal, don’t give up! 

@Dmitriy Fomichenko amazing quote, Thank you!

Three qualities that not only will help you become a better person but will help you excel in life, real estate investing and anything else. 

1) Kindness

2) Genuineness

3) Work-ethic

So many "experts" are always advising on different strategies to do marketing, sales, deal analysis and other strategies that can help one in real estate investing. While these strategies are valid and appreciated, the ultimate truth is that business is about relationships and 99% of strategies will likely fail if one cannot build honest long lasting relationships with clients, mentors, pears and such. So what is my point? My point is that the true area of focus, specially for rockies, is to focus on themselves and on becoming better people which in turn can help one become a better investor. 

For example, investor A is mean, disrespectful and always trying to take advantage of other individuals. This investor may do a deal with a person once and then that person will not want to deal with him/her again. This investor has to spend significant amounts of money on marketing and oftentimes buys off of the MLS competing with other people because of the lack of relationships.

Investor B on the other hand, is kind and genuine, likes to offer value to others and does not expect much in return. Given other people like this investor, they offer him/her investing opportunities or referrals quiet often and therefore this investor buys off market properties often. This investor builds relationships and people enjoy working and having a relationship with him/her because of the kindness, respect and genuineness reflected. In turn, less marketing dollars are spent, less competition and bidding wars.

Oh wait.. I did not mention work-ethic, that's because if you want to survive in business this is the least one should have. 

Very much and very little was said in this post. The hope is at least one person will understand the importance of being a nice person in the business world. 

What are your thoughts? 

Good luck on this journey! You’re going to do really well!