All Forum Posts by: Chris Marangoudakis

Thanks for the feedback Marko! I still have a lot to learn but I will take it in stride. I'll start by taking a look at your website and signup for your "2013 Housing Market Forecast".

CKM

Marco Santarelli - I know there area ton of threads on BP regarding investing in outside markets, but in your opinion would it be realistic for me to invest in an out of state rental property in a stable market or is would I be setting myself up for headaches because I am not a "hop, skip and a jump" away? I always look at foreclosed properties nationwide, but never really gave much attention to out of state properties. Hopefully, the more I read and research, the quicker I am comfortable enough to invest out of state. Heck - I'd love an opportunity to arrange for a few out of state business meetings to get away for a couple of days lol.

Could you email me a link for your housing market forecast?

Michael G. - thanks for the input. I know of a couple of friends who are active in the Philly market. Pennsylvania has always appealed to me.

Justin Rickson - I definitely want to explore that option. The multi-family properties in my area of Brooklyn are expensive, but exploring owner occupied loans can pay off.

Thank You everyone!

Thanks Michael Rivera!

A lot of people that I know have invested in multi-family property in the Bronx and from what I have gathered from them is that they have not regretted it.

I have worked on a couple of construction projects in the Bronx and I am starting to get a feel for the neighborhoods. I do not have much knowledge on the New Jersey market, but I will definitely look into it.

Thank you for your input....much appreciated

CKM

I have always dreamed of investing in real estate. For the past 2 years I have been reading whatever I could get my hands on. I've scoured the internet and real estate forums for advice and I have downloaded audiobooks for my daily commutes when traveling to work. I feel like I am ready to turn this into action.

I was recently married in October and me and my wife both want a future in real estate investing. We have said for years that we would use our current professions as a stepping stone to ultimately achieving that goal. If the hard work we are putting in now pays off, we want to invest our money into real estate in order to set us up in the future.

Me and my wife have been putting some money aside for about 2 years now. We are currently renting an apartment and we are in no rush to buy a home right now. I would rather take the money we have been saving and invest it somewhere before we dropped it all on a house. My thinking is that we invest and make our money work for us before we are tied to a house with mortgage payments etc.

My question to everyone is what were some of your first real estate investments? I would love to hear how other people got started. I personally would like to get into the rehabbing of distressed homes. As a contractor, I have a lot of experience that I feel would benefit me. Hopefully my next step after rehabbing will be multi-family properties to buy and hold. We have a decent amount of money saved up but New York real estate isn't exactly the cheapest. If you had a bankroll of $75-100K to work with where would you look to invest?

I look forward to hearing from you...

CKM

In 2009 my father-in-law purchased an empty lot in Brooklyn, NY. He purchased the lot for $265,000 and he received zoning calculations from two architects. I do not know specific details (I married his daughter in 2013), but from what he tells me, the zoning on the property changed pretty soon after he bought the lot.

Under the previous zoning coverage, both architects told him that he could put up a building with a cellar and four floors above to end up with approximately 10,000 SF. He tells me that this could have then been divided up with a community facility on the 1st floor and 6 apartment units (2 each on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors). The building was then re-zoned and what he tells me that he can only put up a building with a community facility and 4 apartments in lieu of 6. He has not touched the property since then and completely put it on the back burner.

I am going to begin looking through his paperwork so that I can research this a little bit more. I would like to update this topic as I do more research and I would love to hear some feed back from the experts on this forum.

The lot is just sitting there growing weeds...might as well try and see if I can make something out of it.

Zach

Although I am new to Real Estate Investing, I have been using Quickbooks for my construction company and I am very happy with it...so is my accountant!

Not sure what I paid for the 2012 edition, but it was reasonably priced.

CKM

Thank you all for the feedback. I was thinking something along the lines of 60/40 split was fair if the money man was funding 100% of the purchase and rehab. I will offer a 50/50 split and see if that is accepted.

The money partners I would be dealing with initially know me and that I have been in the construction industry for the passed 10 years. All work would be performed by my company and my workers.

Thanks again for your responses. Much appreciated.

I am looking to enter certain partnerships with Equity Partners. My company would be responsible for finding, renovating and reselling the properties and the Equity Partner would be funding the purchase of the property + the rehab costs. I could possibly kick in some money so that I have some skin in the game, but right now we are looking for the money partner to finance 100%.

What would a fair deal structure be between me and the money partner be? Let's say he was coming up with 150,000 (property) + 60,000 (rehab) for a total of $210,000. What should his return on initial investment be? What about the profit distribution at the completion of sale?

New to the site and I love what I see so far! Thanks for the help...

CKM

Right now the areas which I am targeting are distressed properties via forclosures and REO's. Properties are typically single-family and approximately 2,000 SF 3 bedroom 1+ bathrooms. Extent of rehab would be interior demo, new interior finishes, asphalt shingle roofing, vinyl siding and landscaping improvements. No structural damage or any significant "re-builds". Pretty straight forward advanced cosmetic rehab. These houses look like they are reselling at the 250-325,000 range.

Again, just looking for a "ballpark" number for these types of rehabs. I have my own contracting crew who would perform most of the work. I just wanted to check my numbers with some others who have completed similar flips.

I was curious to see if anyone had any "ballpark" rehab costs for single-family homes (low, medium, high). The types of homes which I am currently looking at are affordable (retail at or below 300K) single-family homes in Long Island with approximately 2,000 - 3,000 SF.

If anyone has completed any similar renovations in the New York area I would LOVE to hear from you. I have a couple of site visits scheduled this week.

Thank You in advance