All Forum Posts by: Jody Rabtzow

You should be writing off all of your expenses for the property.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Lake Hopatcong.

Purchase price: $60,000
Cash invested: $85,000

Bought the house for $60,000. Spent $85,000 for new septic, roof, furnace, well pump, added bathroom and interior rehab. Most of rehab was borrowed. Used 25,000 cash. Then rented and refinanced.

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

I like the buy and hold strategy.

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

I found the deal on Zillow. It was a foreclosure and I waited for the price to get low enough to be worth it.

How did you finance this deal?

I financed the deal with a home equity loan, a 401k loan, and some cash.

How did you add value to the deal?

A lot of repairs.

What was the outcome?

The house appraised for $240,000 and it’s rented out for $1750 a month

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Challenges are getting the work done in a timely manner. Rehab took 4-5 months. Many delays.
Lesson learned- don’t put house in business name if you are going to mortgage because then I had to change the deed to my and my husbands names.

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

Julia Torsiello, real estate agent

Hello, 

I would like to know what sites people find to be the most reliable for background and credit checks.  When my first tenants moved in, I used a real estate agent.  Now, I have another tenant moving in with a current tenant and have to run a check on him.  Any help would be appreciated. There are a lot of options.