All Forum Posts by: Bailey Keefer

I am filling out the landlord identity registration form required in NJ, and I am not living in the same county as the property. I see this section:

"If the address of any record owner is not located in the county in which the dwelling is
located, the name and address of a person who resides in the county and is authorized to
accept notices from a tenant, to issue receipts for those notices and to accept service of
process on behalf of the out-of-county record owner(s) is as follows:"

What am I supposed to do in this case?

I'm 24 years old, and I just finished my first flip in NJ/NY area. I got a great deal because it was sold from a family member who needed to get out of a situation. 

Now I have saved up capital between my job and this deal to move onto something bigger. I want to move onto multi-family buy and hold deals, and would ideally like to buy multiple houses from an existing portfolio. I like the idea of Raleigh-Durham area because it is drivable from where I currently live (not super close, but my job is completely remote and I can travel wherever, whenever) and because it is a common area that is brought up in REI discussions.

Does anyone have any first hand experience with investing in this area remotely? I'd like some general insight on how the market is, and any tips in general for doing something like this. Any advice on ways to meet people looking to offload multiple properties at once? Any good management companies? 

Thank you in advance!

@Antonio Cucciniello Thank you for the reply! I actually normally live in NYC as well, in TR now because of covid. What's your average home price in Ewing? are you cash flowing on those properties?

@Shannon Robnett thank you for the in depth reply! I definitely do want to shape a better picture of the type of property/market I want to be focusing on in the long term. I do understand that there seems to be a trade off between the high cash flow bad neighborhoods and appreciation. Do you think it would be more valuable for me to focus on higher appreciation areas 3-4% and shell out a bit more money for properties in the long run? So for example rather than have a $600/mo cash flow on a $50k SFH in a 1% appreciation type neighborhood, to choose a $200/mo cash flow on a $150k SFH in a %3-4 area?

@Joe P. Thanks for the reply, yeah I am afraid of tying my money up too much. I would be using my W2 income (~$120k/yr, hoping to move up to the $200k range in the next few years) to fund the purchases.

I do notice in the midwest, a lot of the homes are brick houses which is good.

I hear Gloucester County is a pretty good place to invest for NJ, and not too far from me. 

Do you have any experience investing long distance?

Hi everyone, I am 24F and I have been saving up to start investing in real estate. I live in Central/South Jersey and I have been trying to decide whether it's best to try to start locally or go long distance. My long term goal is to be able to have 50 units by the time I am 40. I see this being more realistic in a cheaper market. I have been thinking places in the midwest (St Louis, Kansas City, Detroit, Cleveland) and Southeast (Atlanta, Orlando) area.

My biggest concern right now is to be able to grow and add cash-flowing properties relatively quickly. I am seeing that the biggest tradeoff on high cash-flowing properties is that they tend to be in "not nice" neighborhoods that can attract bad tenants and have higher maintenance costs. I am also seeing that most homes under 100k tend to be older (1950s - ish).

I have the opportunity to buy/fix up my uncles home to turn that into a rental property. It just sucks that NJ taxes are so high. Buy this home for around $180k, needs around $20k rehab, would then be valued at around $230k, rents for around $2k/mo. I feel like this is a good opportunity and is right in my town, but I am hesitant to get started with property that is that "expensive" instead of being able to buy 2 cheaper SFH (or even duplexes) somewhere else.

So I guess I have a list of questions.

1. 1. Is my mindset of prioritizing cash flow correct, considering my goal of adding units relatively quickly to my portfolio?
2. 2. Is focusing on $50-80k properties just too cheap? Do you think I'll wind up shooting myself in the foot in bad neighborhoods?
3. 3. How old of a home is just too risky? I'm trying to focus on 1980+ to minimize big repairs/issues but most of those homes are at least $150k and don't seem to be cash flowing with a 20% down conventional mortgage.
4. 4. Does any particular market come to mind for this type of criteria? (SFH under $100k, cash flowing at least $200/mo, newer builds 1980+, not in a very bad neighborhood). I understand that there are going to be good deals everywhere, but my biggest thing is trying to have each unit be relatively cheap. This is not really possible in NJ.
5. 5. Based on my criteria in 4, what do you think is able to have the most wiggle room while still moving towards my goal? Does anyone have experience with C- type neighborhoods or focusing on older homes, and can you talk on the risk of this or if it's worth it?

Has anyone used virtual assistants to call FSBO's or Expired's? I am a new agent, and I have experience doing sales calls and do not mind cold calling myself. But I was thinking of using a VA to do first touches to gauge interest and then personally call the people that are interested. I feel like this would save myself time (I run another business....working on getting VA for that too) and keep myself from getting bored with prospecting. I also lose my voice very easily (I have a medical condition) so would like to save my vocal chords for 2nd round calls.

Does anyone have experience doing this? I am aware that I would have to find a VA that meets my standards and such. How has it worked for you? Thanks!