New(ish) Agent in NJ

[Albi Kociu]

Hey guys,

I'm Albi. 

I am in my 2nd year as an agent and I just quit my job a few months ago to jump into real estate full time. I'm originally from Albania, but I grew up in Fairview, NJ and now I live in Hillsdale. I'm operating in the North Jersey area and I've been trying to get my business going but there is sooo much to learn and no real structure to teach it to new agents. It's been pretty frustrating, but reading around BP has definitely helped. But even on here there is so much info that it can get overwhelming. I am reading and liking Brandon's (no and low money down) book though ;)

That being said, I have a couple of things that I need help or guidance from the BP community with:

1. I've partnered with another agent in our office at Keller Williams and we work with lenders on pre-foreclosure properties. I came into this pretty early on in my career, and while it certainly seems like a great opportunity, I was just wondering if you guys could help me figure out what I have on my hands here. Is this really as good of an opportunity as it seems? I am definitely looking to invest in some properties myself, so it seems like a good way to be ahead of the curve on these potential deals, being that I would theoretically get my hands on them first, but with all these investors out there using pre-foreclosure lists, I'm sure I'm not the first person to know about these properties. 

2. With all the possibilities in the real estate game, it's easy to lose focus and get too wide. I need to narrow down my niche but I feel like, since Jersey isn't like most markets in the US, having experience in the business would be a big help in doing so. Since I don't have that yet, I'm hoping to get some feedback from some of you on here who surely do. 

• Growing up around the Gold Coast, and also being a millennial, I am naturally attracted to that area. I'd love to be able to operate there and I think I'd be able to relate really well to the people wanting to move there. 
• I also really like the idea of house hacking and eventually buying BRRR multifamily properties, which would also bring me out to areas like Lodi, Garfield, Hackensack, etc.
• That being said, I currently live in Hillsdale (about 30-45 min away from those areas) and the homes up here go for a pretty hefty price on avg. It would also be nice to sell in this area. 

Dilemma. I think I would obviously be spread too thin trying to tackle all those areas and also do the REO stuff at the same time. Are any of those options better than the other according to the experience and knowledge you guys have? Or is it just a matter of preference and me just picking one? Anything else that I'm not thinking of that you guys have seen new agents my age tackle?

Sorry for the long post, but I have a lot of questions as I'm sure everyone does when they're new to real estate, and structuring them all into a clean and cohesive post can be challenging. I appreciate you guys so much if you read up to this point lol and I'm really looking forward to being an active member of this community!