All Forum Posts by: Kevin P.

Quote from @Jorge Peguero:

Hello BP family

Im suffering from analysis paralysis.

I self diagnose myself about 3 months ago.

I live in newark, new jersey.

I want to find away to get into real estate that doesn't end up costing 

me too much and some how will enhance my living situation.

I know my question  is super vague and perhaps way too broad

But what would be the best way to invest 15k in real estate?

Thanks

 I am sure you're going to get a lot of answers for this. At the moment I don't need to borrow but in the past sometimes I've borrowed $15,000 just to complete a deal or have some extra money for renovation. So I would say short-term lending for perhaps a year to someone willing to pay maybe 10%. Also I've been planning on attending local real estate meetups which I have not done yet but I suspect that would be a good option to get more ideas and perhaps opportunities. Good luck and stay in touch with this thread and let us know what you decided to do. It would be interesting.

Quote from @Tina Lee:

Hi all, I have tried last week to do google search can’t find anyone to return my call nor specify on eviction.

Can anyone tell me how can you find a good eviction attorney on your area ? Or as any referrals?

Thanks

If you don't get an answer here I would try searching for real estate investor forums in Hudson county. I think Jersey City is in Hudson county right? A quick search for me brought up something on meetup.com. their forum had more than 800 members presumably all in your area.

I have given loan officers many many referrals. When I first started doing this I asked my guy if he gives referral fees and he let me know that it's illegal and unethical. I still give referrals but don't expect anything in return except the thanks of those who need the help.

In New Jersey they are supposed to do a tax assessment every 5 years. I think that's something may have changed where they're doing it more often now but I have to research that. It has nothing to do with inflation. It's just a normal process of real property assessment and taxation. I have multiple properties and they have all been reassessed recently. The value has gone up substantially and so that means the taxes will do the same.

Quote from @Willis Nan:

Hi guys,

I have a question in regards to home inspection.

We are planning to purchase a house that is build in the 1990s in New Jersey.

Should we do an oil tank sweep? 

The owner isn't able to provide docs to show that there is no oil tank.

My understanding is that newer houses/duplexes won't have any oil tank, but is the $300 sweep worth the peace of mind?

 Unless you have some reason to believe there was an oil tank I would not do that. I've purchased seven houses and I have never done that and it's never been suggested to me by my very experienced agent. That being said I did buy a house that had oil heat and I converted it to natural gas and did do environmental tests because of that. That house was from 1973 and the oil tank was clean with no problems. I would not worry about a house from the '90s at all. Save yourself $300.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $239,000
Cash invested: $40,000

SFR in Middletown NJ. Buy and Hold investment with about 4 months of renovations done by myself. This was purchased from the bank as an REO.

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

This was on the MLS for a while and I bought it from a bank. After a while the bank decided to replace the furnace and repair the backyard deck. I started with an offer of $220 but finally bid $239K.

How did you finance this deal?

10% down, balance at 9%

How did you add value to the deal?

New surfaces everywhere except the kitchen. Spent $17K doing almost everything myself because I was laid off from my job just before closing so I threw myself into it. I guess it was lucky I was using a hard money lender because it probably would not have closed with no job.

What was the outcome?

The tenant is interested in purchasing and I may give them the option since I've owned it for 2 years and I wouldn't have short term gains on it and I can avoid using any agents. I should be able to get around $370K now which will give me my investment back and plenty more. I didn't include the fees and interest that I paid but the profit is over $100K thanks to a forgiving market.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Shoutout to Domenick Acerra in Middletown working for REMax. I always use Dom for purchases. He is an investor as well and has vision when looking at prospective deals.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $239,000
Cash invested: $40,000

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

This was on the MLS for a while and I bought it from a bank. After a while the bank decided to replace the furnace and repair the backyard deck. I started with an offer of $220 but finally bid $239K.

How did you finance this deal?

10% down, balance at 9%

How did you add value to the deal?

New surfaces everywhere except the kitchen. Spent $17K doing almost everything myself because I was laid off from my job just before closing so I threw myself into it. I guess it was lucky I was using a hard money lender because it probably would not have closed with no job.

What was the outcome?

The tenant is interested in purchasing and I may give them the option since I've owned it for 2 years and I wouldn't have short term gains on it and I can avoid using any agents. I should be able to get around $370K now which will give me my investment back and plenty more. I didn't include the fees and interest that I paid but the profit is over $100K thanks to a forgiving market.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Shoutout to Domenick Acerra in Middletown working for REMax. I always use Dom for purchases. He is an investor as well and has vision when looking at prospective deals.

Originally posted by @Account Closed:

Maybe because people are starting to understand that there really is something fundamentally immoral and wrong with a system that allows a small group of people who either have tons of extra money or are able to get approved for multiple mortgages to hoard extra property then charge people for a basic human necessity, sticking them in a position of essentially modern peasant who will then almost certainly never be able to save up enough to buy their own home and build equity and enjoy the stability homeownership brings s it stands now, millions of people are stuck in a cycle of paying someone else’s bills and never getting to enjoy any of the benefits of owning a home. Banks make the requirements for a home loan so stringent at times that many people can’t get approved but they are paying more in rent than they would be with a mortgage. All to pay for someone else to have extra homes they don’t need. Or worse. To literally just make the owner even richer for the ones who are. Shelter is a basic human need. It should be an investment for someone to not have to work. 
when people are seeing apartment complexes sending cruel and tone deaf eviction notices and not repairing issues during a global pandemic and young kids in their 20s whose rich parents give them money all the time buying apartment building and rental houses to kick the people out and raise the rents, while evicting people who are a day late and being entitled little d bags about it then yeah. Normal polite Society generally is going to have some issues with that. 

You started out okay but then went right into the stereotypes which ruined your argument. The vast majority of landlords are just those who have either inherited property from their parents which they rent out for needed income. Then there are those who save their money in hopes of having a rental house so they can one day retire. You can't begrudge people their right to try to have a nest egg? Both my parents died without being able to retire and it's tragic but it's the norm. I treat my tenants with great respect and I give them stellar service because this is a service business and my tenants have good relationships with me, even those who are behind on rent in these extraordinary and hopefully temporary circumstances. We appreciate each other. I hope you won't continue to portray landlords as immoral or uncaring because I don't fit into that category and neither do most of us. It's not deserved.

I used Caliber for a complex 203K loan so it had construction draws and a HUD Consultant and many moving parts. Caliber is actually well-equipped for the task which is very unusual. It was even the first time for my usual mortgage guy and he's been in the business for 30 years. That was in New Jersey at the end of 2019 so it's freshly in my memory. They had a website interface for the 203K loan progress and checklists for things that needed to be inspected for draws. I had access to a representative in San Francisco who was responsive to me. I recommend them.

I don't think you are at the stage where you need any outside help. Perhaps later you will. If it does make you feel better to do so, get one who specializes in real estate as others have mentioned or don't do it at all. I will recommend my favorite book on the subject, which is "Every Landlord's Tax Deduction Guide" by Stephen Fishman J.D.