All Forum Posts by: Gargi Keeling

@Paul De Luca they might get it right in 2023 but you know what they say about broken clocks (correct twice a day!)

@Nathan G. Fantastic Life philosophy. I feel the same. I'm still working towards building the portfolio. My day job is really stressful though and requires a lot of attention.

@Bill Brandt wow! That's outstanding and certainly something to aspire to.

I'm wondering did you ever think about keeping mortgages on these properties so that you can keep your capital working across more markets and spread your risk?

The other thing I was thinking about is these scams where fraudsters steal the title to your property and then sell them on the market. A house that is fully paid off is at higher risk for these scammers and the equity will get paid out in full to them. Whereas if you have a mortgage on these properties the bank gets paid first. Any thoughts on this? And did you ever worry about this?

@Mike Hern Yep, I'll be watching this closely since I live and invest in the area. I'm hoping the rents will come back up since I took a hit during the pandemic. I'm still struggling with getting contractor resources to fix up my rental. I'm hoping with the recession that I'll get more chances to hire people to actually do the work.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Ewing Township.

Purchase price: $176,000
Cash invested: $44,000
Sale price: $280,000

3 BR/2.5 BA townhouse w/ garage & basement

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Low entry point, nice safe neighborhood, working professionals as renters

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Our agent, Shani Dixon, with Fox Roach/Berkshire Hathaway

How did you finance this deal?

Downpayment / loan

How did you add value to the deal?

We remodeled this pretty extensively - new kitchen cabinetry, bathroom vanities, lighting.

What was the outcome?

1st tenant didn't last long, 2nd tenant was good - reported issues, kept the place tidy

Lessons learned? Challenges?

We probably could have used cheaper materials but I think it added value to the home. And we lucked out w/ an affordable contractor.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Shani Dixon

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $235,000
Cash invested: $70,500

up down duplex w/ yard and balcony and attached garage and basement

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Leveraging appreciation in 1st NJ investment and then using 1031 exchange to move equity into a duplex. We have enough funds to buy a second duplex.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Our awesome realtor, Shani Dixon, with Fox Roach/Berkshire Hathaway. She was the agent for the first property and also listing agent for the new property. She helped us negotiate a fair deal for both parties.

How did you finance this deal?

1031 exchange for downpayment, standard loan for the balance

How did you add value to the deal?

Not sure if I did much apart from due diligence via a walkthrough with my agent. We also paid for inspection and following all the rules (landlord registration, safety remediations, etc.)

What was the outcome?

We closed less than a month after selling the first property as part of the 1031 exchange.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

We have to consider the norms for the area. In Hamilton, there is landlord registration, certificate of occupancy, sewer/water bills, gardener - all paid by the landlord.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

YES - Shani Dixon from Fox Roach/Berkshire Hathaway (Princeton Junction, NJ)

I was raised in New Jersey and live in California now and remotely manage one property in Ewing. I like the price point for purchase and the neighborhood is safe and appreciating. However, there are a lot of hassles with fire inspection and certificate of occupancy and just general bureaucratic stuff. Be mindful of this whenever you look into any area here. Also different townships have different tax rates. Always look at the listing and check the taxes and assess value to compute the actual tax rate. Trenton is quite high for example.

Good to know about Union City, NJ - I haven't gone far enough in the process to know. I AM familiar with Ewing, NJ (good deals, but lots of bureaucracy).

I have a realtor in Boise that regularly sends me info on deals. I may move on one in the next year. Let me know if you want his contact info.

D'Andre - I'm much older than you and I"m on my second marriage (10 years and counting, though!). Perspective on money/finance is one of the biggest influences on a relationship, so please have these critical conversations now before you get married. But let me share how I eventually got my husband to come around on all this real estate investing stuff.

I have been bullish on REI for years now (I did a 1031 exchange using a condo I owned before I met him - now a 4BR/2BA w/ 5 renters) but he would always disparage my decision saying it was a 'bad' investment. I figured out that he was comparing REI with stock market investment (he used to sell bonds) and he was just looking at it from the perspective of cash on cash gains. Once I knew what his baseline for comparison was, I focused on how REI had advantages over stock market investing. Granted, we do both but the conversation is about diversification. In the end, we found common ground on the REI goal of cash flow using cash on cash analysis. I also pointed out the differentiators for REI over the markets:

1. tax benefits (expenses, depreciation)

2. tangible & incoming producing asset once mortgage is paid off (showing him amortization schedule mapped to rental income helped)

3. Regardless of political and market factors, people will need a place to live and small, affordable rental units will always be in demand.

So my perspective on your situation would be to:

1. Have the conversation ASAP and if needed, get a 3rd party facilitator to help with the discussion. If anything, they can make notes on where you align and where you still need to work through issues.

2. Ask your fiancée to articulate her perspective on growing wealth and how it relates to quality of life (time, health, family, etc.)

3. Based on 1&2, frame your proposal in the context of what has meaning to her and find common ground on one strategy. 

GOOD LUCK and kudos to you for having such foresight at a young age! I got married very young the first time and I didn't think about any of this back then.