Wholesale Property and Flip in West Milford, NJ, by Lake

[Yasmin Na]

A contractor friend connected me with a property wholesaler who found me a property for 265k (originally listed at 330k). My friend saw the property and said it would need 40-50k in repairs (he contracts for a living and is willing to help me flip my first home, so it'll be closer to at cost compared to working with a stranger). The house is structurally sound and 3bd 2 ba across the street from a lake (houses on the lake pay double the taxes, so this house gives you the view without the heavy taxes, but that also means you don't have direct access to the lake), so it has beautiful views, but the house is a little awkward. The staircase upstairs is the most narrow staircase I've seen (the house was formerly a cabin, so the ceiling in the living room is also exceptionally low). With repairs the house is at 310 or 315k. I'm not familiar with West Milford, NJ. The lakes are beautiful, but it doesn't seem to be a place buyers are traditionally looking for property. I also don't know if I'm going to profit much from flipping because I need to take out a mortgage, unlike my friend who buys cash. So, I'm going to be paying mortgage for at least 3 months of repair then however many more months until sale. And, even if I flip, there is the fee to the realtor and closing costs and potentially taxes, etc. I do want to learn, so I'm willing to deal with the headache to build credit and gain experience if I can break even, but I'm worried that might not happen. People want space and this property is .30 acres and the backyard is small--it's more front yard. It is a sellers market and was hoping money can be made in flipping and I feel like an inside deal is better than competing with a property that is on the market where bidding wars have been happening in COVID. I don't know how to figure out if this is worth the risk especially in times like these where we don't know what will happen. Does anyone know anything about West Milford and property values there. I want to figure out if this is worth it. It's a scary thing to be tied to a home and to pour so much money into one. Any advice on this would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance.