All Forum Posts by: Jason Stephens

@Michael Anspach I am on LI and looking to hear about some people's success and failures of this intricate market.  I am looking to get started with a rehab as our first project but I am just getting my ducks in a row.  Any success on the island and what would you think is the best way to find rehabs?

@Sam So  Wow Jericho is so close, glad to see there are other people on here working the same markets that I am.  Gives me a feeling that the market could tolerate flips.  What have you had success doing on LI with RE investing?

@Account Closed I hope since this post you have made some progress that you can help teach us about.  I am looking to get started with my first flip within the next month or so and am starting to push the pedal to the metal to find the right property.  I live in Halesite (north of Huntington Village) and am looking to find the right property in a market I understand and know well.  Would love to hear about your findings on our local market. 

@Michael Anspach I am getting started in Halesite / Huntington Village area.  I too am concerned that the market may be too expensive for a traditional flip, but that could also just be a general fear of starting.  Have you had any success in the local markets? If so, what techniques have you used?  Rehab? Buy / Hold?

@Junaid Subzwari Great to see that you are on Long Island with the same goals that we have.  Do you wholesale properties currently? What is your strategy and what has worked / hasn't worked.  I am over in Huntington by Prime in Halesite and am looking to get involved in my local market.  Would love to hear about your findings and success. 

@Mike Garofalo Have you found any foreclosures or REO's that have worked? What methods are you using to find these?

@Account Closed Wow really close.  What kind of investing do you do here in Melville? I grew up right near St.Anthony's and have even considered doing flips in South Huntington / Melville if the prices are right.  Ultimately my goal is to make enough money doing flips on the side to support my wifes income while she stays home to raise our newborn.  That means a few flips per year with a few rentals for long term income.  Would love to learn more about your success in the area and what has / hasn't worked for you. 

@Wayne Brooks 

How do I go about finding the details online?  Do you have any websites that I can use to research this?

BP Team, 

I currently am living on Long Island, and renovated my house to the point where I am very happy with the turnout.  However, when we bought the house we have a neighbor that we were told was 7-8 years behind on their mortgage.  The wife was separated from her husband who stopped paying the mortgage and went into foreclosure, he died and the house was left to his wife (who lives in the house) and now she's in foreclosure or so I hear and the house has completely fallen apart.  The backyard is overgrown and the house essentially is a steal in our neighborhood if I can somehow find a way to get it. 

We did some research and the information is:
8 Saylor Place, Halesite, NY, 11743
Lis Pendens #:1041526

How do I go about finding where the house is in the foreclosure process and how I can try to make an offer on the home with the bank?

Greetings Bigger Pockets, 

My Father and I are looking to get into real estate investing and want to focus our efforts on flipping homes on the North Shore of Long Island.  We realize that the market here is more expensive then most and that concerns us because we both are nervous that we won't be able to find homes to flip. 

We are interested in starting with Hard Money lenders because as a self employed business owner I am nervous that I won't be able to get a second mortgage or financing to fund this project. In addition, my father just retired from the bank after 30 years and without a steady W2 he will also have a hard time getting traditional loans. The other option is using our HELOC's on our house but for some reason the idea of a hard money loan makes more sense to us because the ability to close fast.

So my question is what is the best way to start looking for the first flip? As a business owner, I understand the value of "systems" and I am interested in setting up a system that we can replicate from home to home and flip to flip.  

1.  I want to set my search criteria so that way I can quickly scan our target neighborhoods and identify potential flips.  I have started by looking at homes on RedFin / Trulia that are on the market 90+ Days with keywords, "TLC", "Investor", etc.  

2. I want to find a house that I can get for 70% of the ARV, but I know this will be SUPER difficult by using the same search methods that everyone else is using. Does it make more sense to give my search criteria to a real estate agent that can do the mining for me?

3.  Our goal is to hit a steady stream of singles and not necessarily home runs.  We'd like to set a goal of making $20,000 per flip every month.  We realize that its hard to get one deal, let alone 12, but once I crack the formula there is no reason we can't replicate it. 

That being said, how do I get over our fear of not being able to find a "good enough deal".  I understand you make the money on the purchase and not the sale, but the fear of not finding the perfect deal scares me that we'll never start.   It is discouraging to see people flip homes when the purchase price's are $70k etc.  On Long Island where we live you have a very hard time finding a home that is in a decent area for under $350k, let alone under market enough that it is "flippable". 

Thoughts, encouragement, and ideas are greatly appreciated.

Jason Stephens