All Forum Posts by: Kevin Manafi

Hi @Beste Park, 

Welcome to BiggerPockets! I'm an investor and investor-agent born and raised in Bergen County (and still living here). Happy to chat more about your real estate journey.

Hi @Beste Park,

Welcome to the BiggerPockets community! I'm an investor and investor-agent born and raised in Bergen County (and still living here). Happy to connect!

Hi @Rey Pena,

Welcome to the BiggerPockets community and congrats on your first post! I'm an investor and investor-agent based in Northern NJ, covering Bergen, Hudson, Essex, and Passaic counties. 

Happy to connect and discuss your investing goals!

Hey @Christopher Morris,

Congrats on moving forward with your first purchase! That's a big accomplishment.

Getting good tenants in place is all about proper screening--I would recommend making sure to take the time to properly screen each prospective tenant by reviewing their application thoroughly; calling any previous landlord references (definitely don't skip this part); running a background, credit, and eviction history check; and of course interviewing/getting to know the applicant.

The more time you put in beforehand to screen the tenant, the more headaches you are likely to save yourself later. 

This is a very general question but yes, any market can be good for wholesaling if you can find deals. It's all about getting them Under Contract at a price that has enough margin for you to be able to wholesale it to another investor and still leave them a profit margin.

Given the market is very hot in NJ, you're probably unlikely to find great wholesale deals on the MLS (at least in North Jersey). You're going to need to really get after off-market properties.

Hi @Scott Royer,

I tend to agree with you as well. While older properties obviously will have more inherent risk just due to age, if a property has been properly maintained over the years and you underwrite/budget for CapEx conservatively, you will likely be fine. I owned a 1920 build multi-family in Hudson County that was very poorly maintained with tons of deferred maintenance, and I was still able to cash flow and turn a profit upon the sale despite dealing with all of the maintenance issues.

Anything is possible!

Hi @Kishan Patel,

Given that being a real estate agent is a knowledge and relationship-based business, you'll have greater success starting off in an area that you know confidently inside and out (most likely where you live), and where you already have people who know, like, and trust you that you can start doing business with (your Sphere of Influence--friends, family members, co-workers, etc.). 

If you started in an entirely different state where you had no roots, it'd be much more difficult for you, in my opinion. You'd have to not only learn the ins and outs of the geography and different towns, but also build a client base from scratch.

Hi @Azhar Awan,

Welcome to the BiggerPockets community! I'm an investor and investor-agent in Northern NJ. Looking forward to connecting!

Hi @Kristen C Bailey,

Welcome to the BiggerPockets community and congrats on kicking off your investing journey! I'm an investor and investor-agent based in Northern NJ covering Bergen, Hudson, Essex, and Passaic counties. Would be happy to connect and chat more about your investment goals.

Hey @Dennis Mignone,

If the #'s pencil out and the deal makes sense to you, go for it. Don't worry about traditional schools of thought that tell you to only invest in X property types or X doors, BRs, etc...I'm actually a proponent of investing in condos when the #'s work out as I find them to be a pretty conservative investment, especially for first-time investors. Easy to manage, always demand for them (especially always demand for 1BR rentals), HOA covers exterior expenses, etc.