All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Greene

Once you complete your class and pass the test, you will start looking for brokerages. If you can make some relationships prior to that with agents in the area who do what you want to, you can find yourself on a team or at a strong brokerage that matches what you want to do.

Welcome, and thank you for your service. You are on a great trajectory and learning curve because you are learning from your mistakes and also preparing to move slowly instead of scaling before you are ready. You have built a great foundation to work from. With your VA benefits and tax break, you are really set to do exactly what you want. A 4-plex would be ideal and you could play around with doing 1 long-term, 1 mid-term, and 1 short-term, plus you, if it works on your area to upgrade your income. Good luck!

Welcome. There are some great meetups in Northern New Jersey that you can find in the Meetups and Events section here. That is a great way to connect with others who are doing what you are doing. Are both of your properties in JC? Are you house hacking one of them?

That's a great market with a high ceiling, but how's the inventory for finding homes to flip? Here, the market is tight, first-time homebuyers are overpaying for all of our flip properties.

It should, but because some (not all) investors are fragile about criticism or prefer an echo chamber, it often falls into a back-and-forth where we are trying to help on our own time, and they are rejecting it and calling us naysayers. I think new investors who post here and take all the feedback as a whole, with a grain of salt, can really put it into play in real life and then discuss with investors at meetups in their area to get over the hump.

This is a good question because I've had an umbrella policy across everything for years, but have never used it. I'll be interested to see who responds.

Yes, this is the same for me. I reject a lot of investors as clients because they can't handle no. They think they found a diamond in the rough that's been sitting for 300 days when every other experienced investor passed on the deal. The no is a test to see how they will take it and respond, whether they will listen. You know that the best investor-clients, we develop a partnership with and camaraderie over knowledge and a will to work in their best interests.

That's exactly it. Prove the deal to each other and if you can do that, the bank will be on board (unless you are both pie in the sky folks, which you guys are not). The "deal killer" name is for emphasis, but the five traits are the description. The reason I call the person a "deal killer" is because so many investors think any criticism of the deal kills it, but it's as you said, it's a way to prove the deal like arguing your case before you present it.

It's really up to you and the market. Utah is a very hot market so you have to assess potential house hacking where you are in one unit and renting another versus renting a place and buying a multifamily to earn income. However, you would have to use cash or a DSCR loan and the metrics of that with the current rates in Utah won't bring too much cash flow. If you are interested in Utah, reach out to @Alyssa Holbrook - she lives there and invests there.

I don't think you are going to be able to get insurance for two separate living units in a single-family when they are both illegal and likely do not have the correct egress windows (basement) for fire safety which could subject you to huge liability if something happens to either party. Does the side unit have a separate entrance like a mother-daughter? If so, that should be covered. The tenants should have renter's insurance to protect you.