All Forum Posts by: Edward Kozic

I am attempting to venture into the world of probate leads. I am able to pull lists from the county for a simple $10 fee which gives me a first name, last name, DOD and docket number. From there I am able to research the person that has recently passed and who the executor of the estate is. I am not going to be wasting mailers to wife/husband who still lives at the property and have decided to focus on family who may be in a stressful situation and have to deal with the property.

I need some feedback from the BP community before dedicating some time and $$ over the next few months. Has anyone been successful in the NJ market, specifically Somerset County, Morris County, Middlesex County. Are there any additional posts on here that you have come across that were helpful? Here is my strategy:

-Send mailers to the current owner of the estate with a typed out and sincere letter

-If no response, follow up with letter 30 days later

-Skip trace the current owner to see if they have any phone numbers or other addresses I can reach them at

-I would like to wait 2 months before reaching out.. too soon?

-Offer value by suggesting an estate sale company if needed.

-Make offers in cash and option to close whenever they like.

-Find a wholesaler who has a stronghold on this market and get a deal executed! ha ha

Looking forward to some feedback!

I am finishing up my first flip and the process is exactly what I expected thanks to the BP forum. Permits took longer than expected, contractors can only show up when they want to and we were a bit over budget. Fortunately, the property is already sold and we will be walking away with a profit as long as our appraisal comes through at or above our asking price.

I am becoming more and more interested in the multi family game and am curious to see how some of you landed a deal. There are a number of properties in my area all owned and maintained by well established companies. Some are undervalued and have a lot of potential, specifically a 15 units building right in my neighborhood. Property values are rising due to the influx of retail and rentals in the town. How would I go about seeing if current landlords are interested in selling. Does a simple call do the job? Should I ask for their current rents, expenses, NOI and work up an offer? I have access to the funding and partners who have experience, but I want to make my efforts worth while. Does anyone have any specific threads they have read on here that could point me in the right direction? This business is all about action and I've realized that every day a phone call, conversation or article I read gets me closer to a deal. Any feedback is appreciated!

I just received an email this morning so my numbers are rough, but I wanted to run it by the forum and get some feedback.

I have an opportunity to develop a 4 acre lot in Florham Park which is a highly desirable Borough in New Jersey. Brand new home construction for a 4,500 SF  5 bedroom home will sell for around $1.5M.  The goal is to purchase the single lot and then subdivide it into 4 separate lots.  I currently work for a civil engineering company and have a very good understanding of the due diligence and approval process in getting this done; however, the financial component is above my pay scale.  I do not have the expertise to build four homes; however, I would be able to subdivide this parcel and sell the four lots at approx $650K-$750K per lot to builders or someone who wants to build their own home. 

My question is what kind of financing would one pursue to purchase the 4 acre lot, ball park $1M plus the $50K-70K for due diligence. I have read a few articles and have seen there are endless strategies in land acquisition financing all dependent upon your personal equity and private financing but I was curious to see what worked best for you.

Hey Ken-

I work for a civil engineering firm in North Jersey and deal directly with a few select geotechnical, structural and environmental engineers in the area.

Send me a message, would love to hear more.

I am not sure how to structure this deal and need some feedback. I found this property on Craig’s list. The property is vacant and the current homeowner does not want to sell it for less than $160K. He is very motivated and just wants to break even at this point. With about 25-30K it could probably sell for around $230K so there is money in the deal. I want to flip it but never actually purchase the home and just have the title and deed linked to the current homeowner.  I will be bring the contractor and funds to the table but how would I contractually do this?  I will need to structure it so that I have full control of selling and at what price point. I want to lock this homeowner in at $160K and take profits for everything over my all in cost. Does anyone have any contracts or have done something similar and could pass on some advice? 

Gents-  great points and suggestions.  I want to be sure to ask the right questions so this feedback is exactly what I was looking for.  I will keep you posted.

Happy new year to all my fellow investors!

This deal is a little above my experience but I want to learn the ins and outs since I am now into the deal and am familiar with the processes. Hopefully I can get some feedback.

We had a deal come across our plate from a new wholesaler at the beginning of December. The property was obtained by the current owners/hoarders through an estate. (Mother passed away)  The owners did not pay their taxes for years and as such had a tax lien imposed on the property. The wholesaler has negotiated with the owners to pay this lien with the sale of property and has a contract in place.  There was also a court order that gave rights to the wholesaler to do such. We are currently locked in to purchase the property at $190K with a flex option agreement; however, title came back with some issues.  After title was run, a long lost brother came up and seems to have a legal interest with the property. He is trying to get more out of the wholesaler which could shut the whole deal down. We have two options here. 

1. The wholesaler can negotiate with the brother to settle on a price that would make sense for everyone, easier said than done or 

2. Let the property go into foreclosure.

Is there anything we can do or suggest to the wholesaler to save this deal or are there missing pieces to this story that I should question the wholesaler about? Any feedback would be appreciated.

I have been investing in the north and central New Jersey area for the past 3 years. Lately, the market for SFR has become saturated; properties are overpriced and few and far between. I have been looking to expand into the Philly and Chester County, PA area. I have been establishing relationships with a network of realtors, contractors and investors. I don't plan on completely taking my business to a new state, but I would like to utilize my current network and resources that I do have to keep my options open. The goal here is to expand by first reaching out to fellow investors on BP forum. Next would be to establish some boots on the ground in this area (i.e. realtors, contractors, other investors) Anyone have any feedback on the temperature of the investment market in the Philly area and surrounding counties. Has anyone been looking to expand in other markets other than your surrounding neighborhoods due to growing competition?

Any feedback would be great!

@Brent Coombs Thanks for the feedback!  I agree and will have to mitigate my risk as best as possible. I was just curious to see if anyone on bigger pockets had prepared a deal like this in a similar fashion.

I have a potential deal here in Branchburg, Somerset County, NJ.

Brief History: The property is currently FSBO and has been that way for a little over a year now. The owner tried to rehab the house when he first purchased it at an auction, but didn't get very far and has gutted the place to the studs for the most part. I had offered him $125K but he will not budge below $200K (what he purchased it for). I came up with an ARV around $360K, but homeowner thinks its closer to $400K. Thinking the deal was a bust and about to hang up the phone he did mention another option.

He wanted to joint venture on the deal where he would hold a mortgage note on the property and I would provide the funds for the rehab $90-100K and manage the work. In a perfect world, I would take profits at closing, everything above $200K. 

I know there are issues and I would have to get a lawyer involved to ensure who pays the mortgage, taxes, utilities, what price do we agree to sell this at and what is the minimum offer we will take, etc. but has anyone done a deal like this? Are there any other creative financing opportunities or underlying issues that I'm not seeing.

Look forward to your input!

Ed K.