All Forum Posts by: Jake Drappi

Good morning BP 

I have been online looking for over 2 hours for specific information on house to determine how much properties can be rented for under section 8.  I have found countless articles online, but none of them are directly from the hud's website (from what I found).  The info I'm finding on non govt websites is a bit conflicting and want to make sure I am pulling my info directly from the govt websites.  Is anyone aware of any direct sources to this information for NJ specifically?  Where can I find how much rent I should be expecting on a property through the house choice voucher program?

Thanks in advance!

@Johnny Quilenderino thank you!

Hello BP community,

I am working on my first rental property that needs some light work.  The house needs to be cleaned extensively and painted.  One of the other things it needs is a fresh paint job and a new kitchen countertop.  I wanted to know what brands are best in terms of durability and where you are buying them from for counter tops?

I also wanted to say thank you to everyone on here for helping and being such an awesome community!

why Detroit 

@Jonathan Greene Hi John - Happy New Year.  Yes, I just saw that note, thank you for that.  I am starting to reconsider this deal, as it looks like I will be upside down for a while.

Happy New Year BP community!

I wish everyone a healthy and wealthy new year! I have my first property under contract as of Friday, and as I started digging deeper, I am starting to get a bit worried and wanted to see if I can find some guidance. This property was listed for 100K and is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath on an acre of land in Vineland NJ. It is not a high crime area, but overall lower income. The comps I looked at in the area were all over the place price wise, but I believed this one to be a pretty good deal, but it did need some work. I believe the ARV will be around 150K and the rehab will be about 25K based on the comps my realtor sent me and what I've found online. I also reached out to some seasoned realtors in the area to ask their opinions and both of their responses were pretty alarming, and I am not sure if it was because they are not looking at this through the lens of an investor or because they know the area so well. Basically, they both stated that fixing the house up and using higher quality materials will not increase the value much at all. The only benefit, in their opinion, was that I would get a higher quality tenant that would not cause as many problems. I was looking for forced appreciation here, but according to these 2 realtors (whom I contacted separately and do not work together) spending the money I was going to to fix this up will only raise the value by a few thousand to roughly 5K. These are both realtors I find on Zillow Agents who had a lot of reviews and sales from what I found. Putting 25k-30k into a property to only raise the value by 5K is not something I would want to do. Could they be right or do you think this is something that they do not understand? This is a property I was planning on holding on to for high cash flow, but I would be just throwing money away if they are correct.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

@Corby Goade Thank you, I called the town and they have no plans for it for sewer, but great advice!

Good morning BP,

I first want to say thank you to the entire BP community, as I finally have my first property under contract. I am still a bit nervous, but I am very excited, and it was all possible because of my knowledge gained right here, so a BIG THANKS to all! The property is a SFH that will need a lot of cosmetic work (floors, bathrooms, kitchen). All the big ticket items like HVAC, electrical, roof, water heater have already been replaced around 9 years ago. I plan on calling the town to confirm they were all permitted. The property is also being sold AS IS, which I am still learning about. It was listed on Christmas eve and I was the first person to see it and offer on it, so I believe timing was a big part of getting the property, which is located in Vineland NJ. I plan on updating it and holding it.

I am now doing my due diligence and digging much deeper into the property.  A lot of the comps I am seeing make this a great deal, however, a lot of the comps I am seeing do not have septic and are on city sewer.   Is there a rough system to estimate how impactful a house with septic will appraise vs a city sewer?

Also, I know I read a good thread about houses with septic, but are septic systems a deal breaker for you?  There is no well luckily, only septic.  I will be getting it inspected, and the town is very anal about the inspections, so I believe the companies in the area are very thorough. 

Any tips / advice will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

@John Fortes Thank you for the insight, I was not aware I could invest without the accreditation.  Where can I find syndicators to start my search?

@Jonathan Bombaci I am definitely looking to go the passive route, as I have a growing full time career that needs the majority of my attention.