All Forum Posts by: Jennifer Petrillo

Got it, I see it above now.

Where and when?

Hi Walter, check out posts and articles by @Matt Faircloth and @Liz Faircloth, they run a large company based in Trenton that does a bit of everything, some of it in Hunterdon County. We flip houses in Hunterdon, we look for distressed properties at auction and off the MLS that have been sitting a while b/c they are in bad shape, these have the best profit margin for us because nobody wants them and we can get them cheap. More people are getting into flipping in our county and the banks are also getting greedy and leaving little profit margin for investors. If you are looking for SFR for buy and hold rental properties, you may find some good options in Lambertville and Flemington, especially where there is an immigrant population looking for inexpensive housing. The trick is not getting taken to the cleaners by your contractors (who expect to live very well these days in our county) and not overimproving. I will PM you, you can give me more details on your plans. Welcome to BP!

I have never used this method, read Brandon Turner's articles about it.

@Dain Boelter, Hmmm...and I have not accidentally noticed the lock box code over the realtor's shoulder or checked the lock box code when they were in another room and then gone back later, not with my GC, to check out the property. It's also amazing how unsecured some of these properties are, we can go look at a property and I'll go into the backyard and my husband jokes that he half expects me to come walking out the front door...unlocked bulkhead doors, windows, back doors, etc. Legally, however, I have signed a hold harmless for things like smoke detectors, well testing, other stuff that someone wanted done first that could not be done until after closing.

Your window and door price looks good, consistent with my GC, I would recommend you get panel doors, they are either same price or slightly more than luan and look like a million bucks. It is those little details buyers will see that will make them want the home. Trickier to paint, but still worth $20 bucks more a door or so.

Your roof price is comparable to what I would pay in NJ.

Is the carport something you are adding or repairing? Is it necessary? Is it something you can leave to the buyers to add in the future? Do the other homes in the neighborhood have this feature?

Would recommend keeping both front doors and saving $3000 there. Unless they are really awful and weird looking. I sold a house with two front doors that was built in the 1850s, it was part of the original charm of the house. One opened into the foyer, one opened into the living room, so that one was just kept closed all the time. Do other homes in the neighborhood have this feature? Some people like old timey stuff.

You can lower those appliance costs by waiting for sales or buying floor models. Just picked up a floor model LG stainless steel dishwasher at Best Buy for $300. A washing machine and refrigerator I bought at a scratch and dent Kenmore outlet 20 years ago still work just fine, the fridge was dented on the top and I don't even know what was wrong with the washer. A little shopping will save you thousands.

Make sure your plumber prices PEX. These contractors will do anything you ask them to and will not recommend a cheaper way to do it b/c they are profiting. You tell them how you want it done. PEX is cheaper and better than PVC or copper and will be easy to install since you are gutting. Get several estimates and tell them you want all PEX installed.

How about not add central air? Save the $--is central air typical for this style of house and neighborhood? Are you going to make that much more on the house with central air in it? Is it going to add value equivalent to or greater than what you are paying for it and the massive hassle factor it is turning out to be? Plenty of people still use window units, we sold a 1950 3/2 Cape in five days for full asking price and the buyers made a big fuss about the landscaping and never even questioned the fact that it did not have central air (it also had no bathtub, only a walk in shower unit!) Stick to the numbers, you are not rehabbing this home for what YOU want in it, you are rehabbing it for the best ROI you can get!

I don't think prices in NJ will ever surpass those of 2007, at least in my county, Hunterdon County (west-central NJ). Homes were so overvalued, they were never worth what they were "valued" at in 2007 to begin with. I know people whose homes are assessed $100,000 less than they were during the bubble. Does this mean they are undervalued? No, it means they are now back at their TRUE value and unlikely to see anything more than regular appreciation from here on. Homes over 400K sit on the market for months and months here, property taxes are too high for new/young buyers to buy in this market, more people move out of NJ every year than move in. There is nothing to drive this market higher than where it is at now. Maybe closer to NYC along the commuter lines there is room to grow.

We got three bids for adding central air to a ranch and they were all over the map--we took the middle bid of 15K (it was a pretty straightforward install since all the new ductwork was run through the attic). We added central air to an already ducted split level for less than 5K. You could price mini splits as well, since it is a two story home, it might be nice to have different zones.

You need a good title agent to track all this down. Also see if your project manager can go to the town and pull old permits. You will be doing your own inspection anyway so it doesn't really matter if they have inspections on record to show you.