All Forum Posts by: William Kwong

Hey @Brian Paredes,

Welcome to BP Community! People have already given you some great information so far so definitely keep this advice in your back pocket to make sure you're set up for success. I would definitely piggy back off @Michael Dumler and say that you should network with investors / agents. (more so investors for off-market deals, however, they more often than not require all cash) I would do some soul searching to figure out what your expectations are for your house hack! A lot of what the BP guys do are amazing in midwest as well as cheaper areas to live unlike NJ which can be a nice challenge (high property taxes especially are an obstacle)

I will say that you're in the right place and are starting off strong! Just FYI 3 fams & up in NJ are definitely a better bang for your buck here to get a decent cash-on-cash. Those are more for on-market deals vs off-market. Let me or any of us know if you need anything!

Cheers!

Bill 

Hey Sam,

Hope all is well. - Congrats on making the move in the upcoming months! I would definitely put this entirely on your realtor as that individual needs to be your local area expert. Regarding my two-cents, Jersey City Heights is another area you can look into that is feasible to get to Newark as well as Manhattan. The closer you are to Hoboken, the more accessible you are to the 2 Lightrail stations in Hoboken that are walkable depending on subject property. But properties that close may be over 700K. These will also add an additional mode of transportation for you. A lot of Heights residents take the light rail 5 stops (13 minutes give or take) to Exchange Place where you can hop on the Newark Line or 1 stop to world trade going the opposite route. Light rail to Hoboken also can offer a similar route for both.

If you're putting down 20% cashflow positive is more likely but less than that is difficult depending on condition. - Return on equity is the play in Jersey City in my opinion (especially the heights). Best of luck!

Bill

I put up a 2 family recently in Greenville and got 9 offers in two days. It's competitive to say the least...to @Max Vishnev point, I think it to be more of an appreciation play as well. My seller purchased his property for 230K and in 5 years we got offers for 460K. Granted, they did some renovations to the property but it's cash-flowing and its principal has been watered down. Within NY Metro I only see things going up. *Insert Crystal Ball Here*

Hope this sheds some light. (Keep in mind not all properties are like this..)

Hey @Matt Berte, hope all is well. Are you looking for condos? Multi fam wise I haven't seen anything in these areas for under 300K. Condo wise, I'd just keep an eye out for West New York or even Weehawken. Only issue is..a decent amount of them have a 2 year minimum owner occupancy and the HOA's tend to ruin the CoCROI unfortunately. Maybe some parts of Newark but that's difficult as well.

Hey @Sam Kay ,

Jordan Cecinini, Principal Engineer - Hudson Engineering, LLC201 238 3121

I used him twice this past week and he was super informative / helpful.

Good Luck!

Hey @Joseph Chacko vellukunnel in addition to the NFA. Call the construction department in JC. All oil tanks require permits in Jersey City. The town inspector needed to be there on-site to see that there's no contamination & that the tank was decommissioned/removed appropriately. JC township should have record of this to ensure you don't have any oil contamination. Added step of security towards NFA letter as well as oil tank company info.

Best,

Bill

Hi Patrick, Not sure who told you that, but that's not true. It's legal to do less than 12 months in NJ at least according to my source in litigation. Just might not be easy to find someone to do a short term.

You'll probably still have a lot of potential for tenants in Fall as even the rental market now, things aren't lasting very long. It's when you hit December - March/April time frame is when less tenants are looking. After that, you're good.

You can request a longer rental term but you may have to offer them more incentive to do so. Some offer a "full or half month free if you do an 18 month lease! Or pay/split the broker fee". That will set you up to never have to deal with it again if you do 12 month leases only afterwards.  

I guess you'll have to ask yourself, do you want to be a return on equity, or a return on cash flow investor. - Ideally you want both but with a lower down payment, the less cash flow you have due to high mortgage. If you're looking to do 10% down and renovate out of pocket, you might be able to keep a decent monthly payment and maximize rental income. Then do a HELOC with a bank that offers 100% LTV. That way you can tap into your down payment and whatever equity you built to continue onto the next one.

If you're going for a 2 family for 600K with 10% down in lets say jersey city heights and not doing much reno, you're most likely breaking even when you move out of your house hack and rent it fully. (case by case basis depending on rents). But you're buying in a high appreciating area so it may be worth having renters water down your principle while you appreciate. I don't know much about NY to really chime in on that market but someone made some good points in Hudson county that were always building out here and things are always changing for the better. The barrier of entry out here may be lower but of course you have to cross the hudson to get here. Always a Give for every Take. Good luck!!

My Contractor, Henry is in JC, he does a lot of work for me and my clients. Really good guy. i'll DM you his number.