North New Jersey Expenses

[Michael Sheridan]

Being an NJ native and simply loving the state and the North Eastern parts proximity to NYC, I have started my search with a deal in northern NJ. However as anyone who is from NJ would know it is expensive. Has anyone had success in this area when just getting started? What can you reasonably call your expense on an investment property in this area in your experience? Was it reasonably achievable to gain forced appreciation on a house that needed some TLC in this expensive market? If you are one of those who started with a hard money loan did you find it reasonably achievable to gain good cash flow after some work and a refinance with the BRRRR model?

Would love to get peoples experiences and stories in this market.

Thank you for sharing your story and experience in advance!

[Ronny Tiburcio]

hey @Michael Sheridan, @Account Closed I understand where you are coming from. I used to live in New York City and I purchased my first house hack in New Jersey. What helped me get passed the expenses part of the buying process was actually figuring out exactly how much you would spend in expenses. 

For example, when I was looking at a property, I would look at property taxes, Mortgage, interest, insurance, PMI(if applicable) to figure out fixed expenses. If you go with hard money or provate money, it would be the same idea. First figure out what your fixed expense would be. After that, join a couple of face book groups and ask around that town, what utilities are like to give you an idea on those numbers. Once you got that, consider putting money aside for Vacancy, repairs, CapEx and property management. That should give you a way better picture on whether its a good deal or not.

In terms of income, you can use rentometer, zillow and craiglist to get a feel for rents in that area. If all those expenses come in under your income and its at a number you like for cash flow, you got a deal. Hope this helps.