All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Greene

$100,000 is only possible if it hits a water source. The chances of going over $10,000 on a residential property in NJ are very slim because most tanks are 550 gallons are smaller and very few, to any tanks, have more than pinhole leaks. Even in the case of a large leak, it is usually concentrated to one specific area. These are leaks, not spills. The chances of going over $10,000 are probably less than .01%

That makes no sense. They get paid when you close, by the seller. A buyer's agent job is all risk-taking to get the reward, they don't get anything for trying. It's possible that the $150 fee is illegal. No agent, in most, if not all states, can take any payment directly. All transactional monies have to go through their brokerage. Ask them if their brokerage knows about the fee? If it's a fee paid at closing, it could be a transaction fee to the brokerage, which is fine, although totally unnecessary. If it is an upfront fee to the agent, it's probably illegal and extremely weird. Walk away. Find a real agent.

The real answer is inside your question. Why would an investor need investors? Seasoned investors have their own capital or can source unlimited capital from existing relationships. They don't need to say to someone, would you like to invest in my investing business - that's circular logic. The people who other investors want to invest with don't have to ask.

Removal should top out at $2,000. When there is contamination it usually runs about $7,500. There is no scenario that you hit $17,000 unless the oil has hit a movable source like water or has contaminated a neighbor's property. When I buy homes with tanks I account $10,000. You are definitely getting swindled and should of only been paying $1,800-$2,00- until contamination was found. Once that is found, be sure you get the 75-page booklet on the results of the testing from the EPA. If not, you are being swindled again.

Have you ever done a vacation rental? If not, do you plan to hire a manager? If you don't do it correctly from the outset, one bad review will capsize those expected profits right away. Vacation rentals have to be high priority and concierge service to be consistent and get to a high number of reviews. Year-round rentals are much safer, have way less wear and tear, and you will get better tenants that stay put. Depending where you are, vacation renters can be a mess and expect A LOT.

FSBOs are FSBOs for a reason. They don't want to deal with agents at all unless they are bringing a verified buyer and they probably still won't pay a commission. FSBOs are the biggest waste of time for agents in the history of the world. They are always overpriced and they are wise to the games like holding an Open House. They can do that themselves. Agents just want to get leads and how does that help them? Sure they get more feet in the door, but they are FSBO because they don't want high traffic and Open Houses. Come up with something novel if you want to approach a FSBO. This bad strategy has existed since the first land settler put out their For Sale By Owner sign on their plot.

It's about how you build a relationship if you want to be in it for the long-term. I ask them questions, the first being where do they want to go. Once you know where they want to go and why, you are well on your way to getting them there. Most investors don't care about the people behind the house, but I do. I tell them I am there to solve a problem. Even these absentee owners have a problem. They have a property unrented, sitting there. I'd offer to help find them a renter, it's not always about the deal right now.

I always say that when they are ready to go they can leave whatever they want in the house and I will get rid of it. Maybe it's too much to think of to figure out where everything can go, especially when you are not there. No problem, just leave it. Need a liquidation company? Sure, I got you, you will get some money back to and then just leave the rest. That's just one option.

You need to create a value add. If you have two years of calls with vacant owners, your script isn't good. What are you bringing to the table other than money? Anyone with a vacant home is probably getting calls from more than you so you need to have a different dialogue. Why aren't they renting it? Maybe they are thinking of moving back. How much are the taxes? Ask them how long they've left it vacant and punch that into a calculator and tell them how much money they have tossed away versus the appreciation. If the property is not appreciating and they are leaving it vacant and don't live in the area, why do they want to keep it? Whatever they answer ask why and then why again. There won't be a good answer and then maybe you have your in. They want to know they can trust you. What's your deal record? It's not the properties, it's how the calls are going.

- Don't make an offer until you've physically seen at least 25 properties so you have an idea of actually what each price point looks like in person.

- Don't let anyone tell you to buy your first investment property in an area that you can't drive to in 15 minutes.

- Don't spend money on mentoring. Don't buy anything a mentor company is offering.

- Make friends with a local real estate agent who is an investor so they won't mind showing you junk properties.

- Create as large a reserve as possible for when you buy because all of the calculators will give you monthly expenditures moving forward, but will not account for a lump sum repair which will always be needed right after closing.

I hope those help.

None of those are accurate. Realtor dot com is better for accuracy, but they all are products and sell to agents. The MLS is the only place where you can do true market research. For rents, you can use Rentometer. It's better than most, but without being able to see ALL of the comps, you aren't doing market research and none of those sites have all the comps. They are focused on active properties, not sold ones. Many get phased out and the data is not always correct. On Zillow when you close, as an agent, you input your own sale data. The MLS link only works for active listings and then once it's sold, it goes off.