Intro to biggerPockets & a brief summary of my future aspirations

[Andrew Decher]

Hello all,

   Thanks for stopping by my first post in the bigger pockets forum! My name is Andrew and I am located in Ocean County, New Jersey. I had gotten bit by the real estate bug about a year ago and have been researching, reading books, listening to audio books and podcasts ever since; I guess you could say I have some analysis paralysis. I have read: The Book on Managing Rental Properties, The Book on Investing In Real Estate with No (and Low) Money Down, The Book on Rental Property Investing, Rich Dad Poor Dad, and have purchased The Four Hour Work Week and The E-Myth. I am currently on Bigger Pockets Podcast 48.

   I do have goals, and once I have picked up a little momentum and actual experience I believe my goals are achievable. My goal is to have 10 single family/duplexes in the next ten years. At this point I will comfortable with either negotiating with my full time job to work part time from home or leave to manage my properties full time. 

   In order to get this done I will be working with my fiance. Each of us will be acquiring 3 bedroom 2 bath homes priced at or under 150,000. We will be revolving mortgages every other year, giving each property a chance to accumulate payment history for proof of income to the banks. I understand towards the end we may need to be more creative as we are limited to the amount of mortgages in each of our names as well as the amount of primary residences in one area. 

Now for my prospects

1.    I have been under contract with a short sales for close to six months now. I have a mortgage for two bedroom one bath $130,000, 3% down, no PMI, 3.6% interest, no points. we have plans to add two bedrooms and a full bath upstairs (as the attic is a cape cod type with dormers and hardwood floors already), and one bedroom and a half bath downstairs. We are also going to be extending the kitchen giving it some extra square footage. At the end of the day we will have approx $145k in the property with a rental income of 1200-1300 a month.

   The major issue I have run into with this project is the second lien on the property for 18,000. The primary Lien holder has offered the second $6,000. The second lien holder has been yanking our chain since we discovered them initially. I am going to give this deal another month before I move on to the next.

2.   I have a partner who purchases tax lien properties as well as other types locally. He is willing to give an acre of property to me as long as he gets a certain percentage of the rental income each month. I will be managing the property. I have plans to get a modular home builder to build a duplex on this property. The plan is for each side to be 3 bedroom two bathroom. with a budget (just the house) of $250,000, renting each side out for $1,100-1,200.

The only questions I have regarding this Idea is:

-whether or not my local municipality in Ocean County, NJ will allow me to build a duplex on an acre?

-How I should go about negotiating the split between me and my partner, as he is giving me the property at no cost.

I thank whoever has time to read through my first post here in Bigger Pockets. I am a big fan of this website and will keep everyone posted on my future endeavors!

[Erik Anderson]

Wow, it sounds like you have spent a lot of time learning. That's great!

You seem to be a motivated person. This is also fantastic.

I think it is incredibly important to have goals that you are working towards. The important thing is that you are taking action. Too many people do not take action on achieving their goals.

I agree with you, once you get started and gain some experience I'm sure you will gain momentum. 

BiggerPockets is an incredible community. I'm sure plenty of people will offer you advice along the way and you will help others in return.