All Forum Posts by: Cristina Marie Najemian

Hi @RobStein. Welcome. My husband and I are new to RE investing and on the same path as you! We are located in a Bridgewater and looking for partnerships. Let me know if you’d like to meet to discuss opportunities. 

Thanks for sharing your experience and insight. It is definitely nerve racking. We are contemplating this approach as an alternative to buying a turn key property at the top of our price point. You are right with the maximum allowed for 203k loans but if we find a property 400k or under, with 20% down that is required for the loan, we are under that range. It just seems like in more desired towns of Northern nj, fixing up is the way to go.

Hi BP,

My husband and I are looking to purchase a single family home in northern new jersey. We like new updated homes and if anyone knows the market in metropolitan area knows that renovated 3-4 bdrm homes can run you upwards of 800K+ in the more desirable suburbs.

Our idea was to buy a fixer upper that needed an addition; either a second floor or expansion out the back. Most likely a change to the layout as well since colonials are the most desired in our area (what we prefer) and there are a lot of cape cods here. The renovations would be averaging around 200-300K.  We thought about taking advantage of the 203K construction loans, but we've heard some horror stories associated with that loan. Not to mention the inspection process, fees, and lengthy timeline.  Our nightmare would be issues with the contractors, quality of work and of course we don't want to deplete our entire savings to fix problems along the way. 

Has anyone had any experience with these loans and if so, what can you share? Thanks in advance for the advice!

Hi Darren, if you can share that contact with me as well, id appreciate it. I’ll pm you, thanks! 

Originally posted by @Darren Sager:

@Zain B. it really depends upon what you want to do.  Raising the roof is more cost effective than adding to the footprint.  Cost is a factor of so many things, but mostly fit and finish of the product you want to put out.   I have a guy who can give you rough numbers on what you might want to do.  PM me if you want his info.  

Hi everyone! My name is Cristina Najemian. I am brand new to BP. I joined this site after listening to numerous BP podcasts and reading several books. My inspiration started after reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad (which seems to be popular around here) and took off from there. It’s like a light turned on. Rewind a little, I graduated from Rutgers in 2011 and I have been working as a Chemical Engineer/Technical Manager since. I am also a part-time licensed real estate agent through Keller Williams Realty in Summit, NJ. I would say my passion for real estate blossomed while my husband and I sold our first condo. We teamed up with a realtor in the Summit area who worked with investors and flippers. She developed a great report with them and helped design, stage and sell their properties. I’ve always been into design so that intrigued me. I thought to myself- I want to do this...all of this. So here I am; taking the first step into real estate investing. I’m nervous, but my ambition overrides everything. I’m on here looking to learn as much as I can from anyone willing to share and also partner up with other investors. I’m really into the flipping, but my goal is also to develop passive income through buy and holds. Thanks for reading and hope to connect with you!

Hi Krishna, Welcome to BP! I’m new as well and have the same aspirations as you. I work full time as a Chemical Engineer and I’m a part time real estate agent. I am also concerned about rentals with the NJ led, but if you or anyone else has advise, let me know. I will do the same!