New to BP...investor in NJ

[Annette H.]

Hello everyone. Just wanted to introduce myself to you. My husband and I have been investing in real estate since 2011. We rehabbed a house from the studs up last year, staged it, put it on the market and had a buyer in two weeks! The main challenge was this house was on a very busy street.

We have rentals in Detroit, Mississippi and New Jersey. We have two properties coming up. One is rehabbed located in Central NJ. SF 3BD/2BA lovely house. We are going to offer a Lease to Purchase Option on this one. Already generating some interest.

The other is located in same desirable area. It's an REO that we kept an eye on for nearly a year. No one was interested due to some minor oil contamination that occurred when bank removed underground oil tank. We won the house on auction and the bank has remediated the contamination issue and applied to state. Now waiting on State Certification for "no further action" letter. This 1950 ranch is in a great neighborhood. 2BD/2BA, 1,526 sq/ft, cathedral ceilings, fp, open plan with full basement with 7ft ceiling in basement & bone dry. Private parking, forced air. Our next issue is finally closing which would be easier if the self-adoring listing agent would get off lazy ***. Despite the fact that he completely misrepresented the issues regarding the property in the listings (never mentioning the oil contamination issue), he admitted he is "clueless" regarding this property and makes no effort to catch up.

Up to now, we've been cash buyers. Now in 2013, we want to multiply our reach and really looking to expand our business big time. We are obtaining financing and gearing up to grow rapidly. I have my eye on Florida which is still slow to recover, so opportunities abound there. We are planning to move this summer. We want to purchase approximately 10 SF or MF units. Any thoughts on which areas are desirable for purchase/sale/rent?