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All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Greene

Jonathan Greene has started 269 posts and replied 6470 times.

Post: Security camera suggestions

Jonathan Greene
#5 Starting Out Contributor
Posted
  • Real Estate Consultant
  • Mendham, NJ
  • Posts 6,681
  • Votes 7,665

SimpliSafe

Post: New to Short Term Rentals

Jonathan Greene
#5 Starting Out Contributor
Posted
  • Real Estate Consultant
  • Mendham, NJ
  • Posts 6,681
  • Votes 7,665

Just look up these people to start with: John Bianchi (STR Search), Kenny Bedwell, Bill Faeth, @Garrett Brown. That's a good base to start from. They all produce high-level content.

Post: Estimating Utility Expenses

Jonathan Greene
#5 Starting Out Contributor
Posted
  • Real Estate Consultant
  • Mendham, NJ
  • Posts 6,681
  • Votes 7,665

Doing stuff like this will get your stuck in analysis paralysis forever. How many of these deals have you seen in person? If you are just analyzing anything to crunch numbers, it's just like playing a video game. The numbers aren't attached to real-life experience. Using an average utility expense is futile because you don't know the age of the furnace, HVAC, hot water heater. It matters if the stove runs on electric. There are so many variables that putting an average into a spreadsheet isn't going to do much to get you closer to taking action.

Post: I'm ready to rent out to tenants. What is the best software to use?

Jonathan Greene
#5 Starting Out Contributor
Posted
  • Real Estate Consultant
  • Mendham, NJ
  • Posts 6,681
  • Votes 7,665

Whichever one makes it easier for the tenants to put rent on autopay or pay through the portal. It's apples and apples most of the time with websites. If you like the feel or use of one, use that.

Post: Getting Feet Wet in Property Management in NJ

Jonathan Greene
#5 Starting Out Contributor
Posted
  • Real Estate Consultant
  • Mendham, NJ
  • Posts 6,681
  • Votes 7,665

Property management in NJ has to be carried out under a licensed broker. Many traditional real estate brokerages in NJ, the bigger box ones, do not allow their agents to do property management because the brokerage needs extra errors and omissions insurance to do PM.

Post: Zen and the Art of Real Estate Investing In-Person Meetup

Jonathan Greene
#5 Starting Out Contributor
Posted
  • Real Estate Consultant
  • Mendham, NJ
  • Posts 6,681
  • Votes 7,665

Join us for our monthly meetup for real estate investors in New Jersey. These are networking events. No pitching is allowed. We are here to build relationships and discuss real estate investing.

This event is in Morristown, not Jersey City (BP only has two towns in New Jersey to tag, so it shows up).

Investors of all levels are welcome at these events. You can see videos from our past events here.

Sponsor: Cara Fischman and Clear Skies Title

Please RSVP: https://bit.ly/rsvpzen

Meetup schedule: https://www.streamlined.properties/zen

Post: First Time Trying to Underwrite a Deal — Feeling a Bit in Over My Head

Jonathan Greene
#5 Starting Out Contributor
Posted
  • Real Estate Consultant
  • Mendham, NJ
  • Posts 6,681
  • Votes 7,665

Did you see this house in person? If so, good job. If not, go back to square one.

Since you have experience, you are likely falling into the trap of overthinking based on your lack of confidence with the financial projection part of the deal, but it's not as important as your knowledge.

You need to know the true value of the target, the potential ARV, and you already know the rehab costs. There isn't much more to it than that. Holding costs matter, process matters, but the asset and what you can get it for is what makes you money in the end, especially since you should know the reno costs.

You don't buy single-family houses with math, that's for commercial properties and large-scale. When rates are high like this, the math doesn't math. You have to know the local area and market and understand the renovation and expectations of your end buyer and whether you can meet them.

Post: Looking to Shadow a Local Investor on a Flip

Jonathan Greene
#5 Starting Out Contributor
Posted
  • Real Estate Consultant
  • Mendham, NJ
  • Posts 6,681
  • Votes 7,665

You find someone like the person you want to shadow by going to real estate investor meetups for 3-6 months and building relationships. How many investor friends do you have in your life? You want several before you start on your first fix-and-flip.

Post: County home treasury & foreclosure auctions tips: easy to flip or wholesale?

Jonathan Greene
#5 Starting Out Contributor
Posted
  • Real Estate Consultant
  • Mendham, NJ
  • Posts 6,681
  • Votes 7,665

Why do you think this is a good tactic, especially if you are new?

Foreclosure auctions, true ones, are all cash, no access (sight unseen other than photos), and still possible to get liens that were not disclosed.

Some of the auction sites like Hubzu and Xome have ghost bidders that push the prices up and relist over and over until they beat the price they want.

Whatever you are thinking, you are too green to think this way. How many real estate investors meetups have you been to in your life and how many real estate investor friends do you have? If zero or very few, do those things for a year before trying to make a quick purchase that you aren't ready for.

Post: Transition from military to a wholesaler

Jonathan Greene
#5 Starting Out Contributor
Posted
  • Real Estate Consultant
  • Mendham, NJ
  • Posts 6,681
  • Votes 7,665

When you are able to lock up your first deal as a wholesaler, you have no track record or history of trust to sell so it's pretty hard to find buyers with no buyer list. Did you plan on wholesaling or are you wanting to wholesale because a deal fell in your lap? The best thing to do to get your feet wet is to connect with some local wholesalers and home buyers in the area and have a "reputable" one help you close your first deal and share the spread.