East Orange, Essex County, NJ- Real Estate Analysis

[John C.]

Hi guys, I am reaching out to the Biggerpockets community to inquire if anyone has had any experience with East Orange, New Jersey real estate. Currently looking at a few properties that has good cash flow potentials in the area. The properties (3 family) are around $250K with gross rent rolls of $3500 per month. Most would be delivered with existing tenants (variety of section 8 and lower income renters).

One thing I am concerned with is the longer term hold strategy. The crime issue seems to have been getting better over the years. However, from my research it seems like the area has been experiencing declining population for the past few years and the unemployment rates are a bit higher than the state average. There is some talks of development moving into that part of town but I am having difficulty finding concrete data supporting future growth. I appreciate any inputs and feedback if you have any experiences with East Orange. 

[Nzinga Young]

@Mark J. @Kris Hubert I'm super late but I own in East Orange and have had a positive experience so far. I bought a turnkey two family in 2018 but the housing prices have risen since then and I'm not sure how well the numbers work today. I still think it's a great town for flippers using private money with flexible payback periods. We have so many big, abandoned homes that make great multis, but East Orange is notoriously hard to work with. My closing was delayed by over a week just waiting for the city to approve something.

East Orange is no Newark. It's a very pleasant, low-income, mostly Carribean town with a very low crime rate and a neighborhood vibe. You can definitely get NYC commuters with great salaries as tenants if you're close enough to the train station. One of my tenants makes more than I do!

Feel free to DM me with any questions.