Military Newbie from Central New Jersey

[Ryan Smolinski]

Hello everyone!

This is my first post to the BiggerPockets forum and I'm very excited to be here. I'm currently active duty Air Force stationed in central New Jersey and have had an interest in REI for quite a while. I've decided that it's about time to take the first step towards eventually achieving financial freedom after reading a few of the BiggerPockets books, practicing analyzing deals, and spending some time browsing these forums. Currently, I am searching for my first rental property investment that I plan on doing a cosmetic rehab to, house hacking with roommates, and then eventually turning into a true rental property. Rehabbing houses is not something I have done before but my mechanical inclination should allow me to pick it up with some practice and I figured a small single family rental requiring a mostly cosmetic rehab would be perfect to learn with. I would appreciate advice that anyone has to offer, and also would love to spend some time shadowing a more experienced REI from the central NJ area if there is anyone looking for an extra hand. I look forward to connecting and working with everyone in the future!

Ryan Smolinski

[Natalie Schanne]

@Ryan Smolinski - Hi Ryan. If you want to buy around Ft Dix NJ / Browns Mills / New Egypt area, I'd be happy to help you find a good house hack and set up systems. You can make pretty good money just buying already beautiful/ turnkey and renting out spare bedrooms such that you are paid $$ to live with your friends (or strangers) in your own house. Written Rules are important. If you want to buy a fixer upper or foreclosure and fix it up, there are also opportunities to do that. I would focus on ugly / smelly that you can fix in 2-3 weeks Max (paint, flooring, maybe upgrade kitchen or bathrooms) and get sweat equity from that differential (and a little less competition from move-in ready homebuyers). I own a 6/3 that was listed as a 4/3 on MLS and when I lived there daily I was paid $500/mo above my mortgage cost (2000 vs 1500) and now the differential is like 3000-1700 mortgage and it went up $150k in value. You can never bank on appreciation but sometimes you get lucky buying in a desirable area. Regardless, the rules are important. I've met some people who get taken advantage of by their roommates and don't have such a profitable outcome as I do.