All Forum Posts by: Kevin Manafi

Hey @Christopher Williams,

I'm an investor and investor-agent in Northern NJ. Would be happy to connect and talk through your investment goals and options in this area.

Hey @Quinton Schultz,

I'm born and raised in Bergen County and a Realtor® here as well. Would be happy to connect and answer any questions you might have.

@Nadezhda T Karkelanova Congrats on your first post!

I would highly, highly recommend J Scott's Book on Estimating Rehab Costs. It's a perfect primer for you to get insight into general frameworks for all different types of rehab, and it also gives you cost ranges for each type of work. 

Based on everything you described above, though, that property sounds like quite a large undertaking for any investor, especially one on their first deal or rehab. The combination of having to address a septic system and an oil tank at the same time is generally not advised, and that's without taking into account the potential foundation issues.

Hi @Jennifer Baldassari,

Congrats on almost having your first property rented out--that's very exciting! And great that you have multiple applicants to choose from.

While it's nice of you to be concerned about them spending money with the possibility of not being selected, that just comes with the territory when looking for rentals, and is something that most prospective tenants do/should understand. Without having all of the applicants apply at the same time (or as they are interested on a rolling basis), how would you be able to compare and know who the better prospective tenant could be?

The application fee itself is sort of a funnel that helps weed out unserious prospective tenants by forcing them to "have skin in the game." Also, it's safer to have everyone interested just fill out the application if they so desire so that you are protected from potentially violating Fair Housing Laws (discrimination) as well.

Hi @Sami Gren,

It is not required to have the current address filled out--it's generally just recommended to fill in as much of the info as you have available, but that's not a big deal.

@Brechman Dieujuste You can incorporate your LLC anywhere you choose--it does not have to be the same state as your residence or the property. But as others have mentioned, might be a good idea to consult a CPA to see if there are advantages/disadvantages to incorporating in certain states as opposed to others.

Hi @Jack Lin,

You can consider investing across the river in NJ! I'm an investor and investor-agent in North Jersey. Happy to connect and discuss more.

Hey @Austin Both,

Your head is definitely in the right place--those are two great experiences that will definitely help you when it comes to purchasing/investing in properties. As someone who did the same, my recommendation would be to continue down the path of working with a commercial real estate firm. It really helps build your confidence by giving you exposure to the ins and outs of deals, underwriting, financing, etc. at a larger scale that you can then take with you into your personal investing career.

If you're interested in sales and looking for a different experience from the ones you've already had, you could look into roles on the brokerage side.

Investment Info:

Condo fix & flip investment.

Purchase price: $303,500
Cash invested: $37,000
Sale price: $370,000

This was a condo flip deal that I purchased for all-cash off of the MLS and turned around very quickly, with the entire project taking less than 3 months from initial purchase to sale. It was smooth sailing as I completed the project on time and on budget--almost to the penny--and sold it for the exact ARV I projected in less than one week on market!

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

I love real estate and all types of deals, but I particularly love flipping!

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

I found this deal on the MLS and was able to negotiate more than $30k off of the asking price.

How did you finance this deal?

Cash

How did you add value to the deal?

I did a full cosmetic rehab on this property---all new paint, flooring, kitchen, bathroom, hardware, etc.

What was the outcome?

The outcome was exactly what I had underwritten--I stayed on time, on budget, and sold for the exact ARV I projected in less than one week on market!

Hey @Rami Sobhani,

The price usually depends on the size of the house in terms of sq. footage and bed/bath count.