My First Multi Family Purchase in NJ

[Vincent P.]

Hello BP- First off this site is awesome!! The information is invaluable.

I bought my first multifamily a 1.5 months ago and it has been some experience. It was purchased for a buy and hold. The property is a 4BR 2Bath home in Monmouth County NJ. It wasent cheap enough for a BRRRR, but feel it was a good deal. I found it on MLS. The upstairs apt was rented, tenants are moving in August. First floor was vacant. I felt comfortable with this is as my first purchase because its 1 mile from my primary residence. I have a job that is very demanding, so hard to find time to invest- but its do-able.

I am by no means an expert but some things i learned;

1) Knowing the area and property is crucial. The sellers agent had it listed most recently as a 3br and when i called the town it was a legal 4br.  I remember being in the house 2 years back for an open house and thought it was a 4br. It was on and off the market for 2 years. 

2) Vicinity to your primary residence is helpful if your doing the work yourself. It was easy for me to work on it at night, because of how close it was.

3) Have a game plan..I heard this a lot on BP, its spot on. I knew the day i closed what i was going to do. Obviously some unexpected things happen, but have a plan. I was able to renovate the whole apartment in one month, working nights and weekends. 

4) Always track area rents and what properites are going to be competing with you.

I just secured a tenant for June 1st for the first floor. I did a backround and credit check in addition to checking refrences. I am looking forward to renovating the second floor. It will be cash flowing nicely after that. I would love to connect with any local investors and wholesalers to find my second property. 

BP Rocks!!

[Travis Bodnar]

Hey Vincent. Congrats! Cant wait to get my first deal let alone first multifamily. Questions - I hear a lot about the one of the only ways to find a real deal is on the MLS outside of the hustle people do through marketing. That said, you must be real estate agent correct? Or did you have an agent work with you to help you find the deal? Can you provide some advise on that?

Also, you stated that you tracked area rents.  How did you do that?  By hitting the local streets or were there websites you used?  

Thanks for your reply.