All Forum Posts by: Dominic Jones

P.S.

Also forgot to mention that you can check out trulia for trentons crime map and try to purchase in the better blocks where less crime activity is reported. If you google:

trenton nj real estate - then click on the trulia.com result.

On that page, you have to go from List view to Map view if it's not already on Map view.

Then inside the map on the upper left hand corner there is a badge with a star in it, that's the crime map. Click on that and the map will turn different heat colors showing where there is more activity and where there is less.

Red is the highest, green is the lowest. Try to stay in the green.

Also, on that data I also saw that trenton has -1% home appreciation (gotta check and see where it's appreciation rate is at to help do further calculations. What's even more scary is that the population went down -0.54 percent meaning it virtually stayed stagnant. Why aren't people moving into Trenton? That's definitely a question I would look into finding the answer about.

Hello and welcome to biggerpockets Latoya! Glad to have you hear and proud you braved your first post.

I'm from Baltimore but went to college at Penn State wherein I met a lot of friends from NY and NJ. I've never really heard to much about the place.

You can do some real quick online research though. Recently found this place which gives really great information about different markets all in one location: http://www.bestplaces.net/city/new_jersey/trenton

That's what they say about Trenton. Check out the people tab on the left b/c at the bottom of that page they have comments from people who have lived there which gives a sort of "insider insight" into what life is like in that area.

Some quick things I picked up by looking at the data on this sheet is median age is 33. This should be good b/c people in their thirties are looking to buy houses to settle into (don't you think so?). Usually if you see a number in the 20's I think it's safe to assume it's more of a renters/rental/landlord market.

Also, Median home price is $66,300 but if you x4 the median household income which would put Trenton house cost cap to about $147,908, so anything over $147k in Trenton is overpriced for the average family in that area and could get into foreclosure problems if you try to sell someone hard on a house they can't afford above that price. Also knowing that number helps you buy better as an investor. We make money by buying undervalued homes, so there's the number you need to know to buy below, as much below it as you can within reason.

It's hard to do sometimes but data analysis is really just having an imagination with numbers. Make the numbers come to life in your head and see how it impacts your business and buying decisions and can help guide you in the right direction.

Hopes this helps.

Feel free to connect and talk anytime.

Best,

Dom

Yeah definitely. I'm just thinking through both of them. Are you strictly an agent yourself or are you an agent investor?

I definitely want to get my license but since I'm about to go teach overseas for a year it's not feasible to get it now, leave and then come back a year later to start the biz. I can just do it all when I get from being overseas.

Yeah, I checked and it also is for DC as well.

What's the advantage of being a broker investor ? Do you think there is one? Or do you still hold the same view that an agent and broker are the same in that respect as well too?

 Okay, so it's really nothing other than a badge of honor.

Yeah this is definitely a question for a tax professional. You should look up any tax specialists in New York here on biggerpockets and also start scouring the net for real estate attorneys and contact them to ask them this question.

They shouldn't charge just for asking a single question, but also, if you do go that route and call them, always remember to build a relationship b/c you'll never know when you'll need that person again.

Best,

Dom

You're welcome buddy. Whenever you have a question just ask. Especially if you try to answer the question on your own and you can't find it.

Sometimes it's hard to do but as men, you gotta swallow your pride sometimes and just ask.

If you just type in multi-family in the search platform space up above, then filter the results by blog posts you'll find some great stuff, also the same as in the forums, however the forum answers are all on real world situations that someone has to ask specifically about (most of the time) and may not be general enough to help you, but give you some insight into some detail you may not have ever thought about before.

Best,

Dom

Welcome to Bigger Pockets Joey! You'll be fine if your wife has some experience managing that amount of rentals. I would look for triplexes or quads right away and if you guys are looking for a residence, move into your new multi and leverage the property even more with an FHA or a 203k loan.

Definitely keep reading around the site about multi-family units and if you haven't already I highly recommend reading this book about multi-family properties:

http://www.amazon.com/Investing-Duplexes-Triplexes-Quads-Fastest/dp/1419537253

Helps so much. How long does it take to upgrade from agent to broker license in DC?

What else is different between the realtors and agents other than being in the association though? is the training different? Are they better agents? Do you have to hit some kind of like sales achievements to even be allowed to become a realtor?

I always wondered what separated the two despite the organization standing.