First time investor during corona madness

[Bradley Rieger]

I'm a soon to be investor in Southern New Jersey (hopefully). I am in the process of getting my Pre-approval to buy my first property. My plan was to buy a multi family with an FHA loan and house hack.

Now with the corona virus and the entire State is basically shut down, I was wondering if I should hold off a few weeks to let everything settle down or should I move forward with the process?

[Mike Bonadies]

@Bradley Rieger best luck on finding your first investment!

In South Jersey you won't see a big change in small multifamlies especially in the three lowest counties. Many of these markets had very depressed prices to start. For instance, Gloucester City and Millville are two areas where SFHs have higher ARVs than MFHs. Places like Collingswood and Haddon Heights will probably see MFHs drop as those towns were overpriced before COVID19 craziness started.

What you'll need to be careful of is inheriting bad tenants. Lock outs aren't and won't be occurring for a number of months so it is vital that if you buy a property with inherited tenants that they are good and well veted.

Another barrier is the change in the lending landscape. FHA guidelines (as well as most loan products) are changing daily. Make sure you stay close to your lender to know exactly how much cash you need to close. I am seeing reserve minimums increase as well as escrows increase.