Hi everyone,
I'm really trying to make sure everything makes sense before I buy my first rehab. The thing is, I can't find the right area to invest. And believe me I've tried researching ten's, if not hundreds, of cities, towns, and zip codes, but I can't seem to find an area that is good for me.
Following J Scott's advice in his book, I'm looking for a few things.
Here are my notes I took reading the book:
Farm Area is the area you will be investing.
❏ Take a small area, not more than 5 square miles with 10,000 people in the area.
❏ Distressed properties are 50% less than retail sales.
❏ 60% of properties eventually sell.
❏ How much supply in the area.
1) number of houses for sale.
2) Number of houses sold in past 30 days.
3) Divide the current list by the past list.
> It should be less than 12
❏ Should be other investors in the area.
❏ Population growth (census.gov / bls.gov), Employment growth, Household growth, Household income growth.
❏ Good place to live.
- Nice kept neighborhood,
- Neighbors know each other.
- Older "established" neighborhood, 20-30 years old.
- majority of houses are lived in by the owners as opposed to being rented out.
- Owners have lived for long periods of time.
- Has convenient consumer amenities and shopping are good.
- Commercial with residential should not be mixed.
❏ Feel the area...
- by driving around and making sure you like that location.
I tried finding those through Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia, Redfin, etc., but I realized they don’t have all the houses, and all the data I need. So I can’t make an estimate based on them.
which brings me to the decision to find a good agent first who can provide me with this info through the MLS. Actually, J recommends to find first your agent). but if I absolutely have no idea where I would start, from which area should I look for an agent???
The only hope is, that any of you will have a recommendation where to start rehabbing in New Jersey.
Best wishes!
Yisroel
