All Forum Posts by: Laura Levine

Hi Everyone,

I am researching buying a property to flip, and the mortgage brokers I have spoken with indicate that I will need 25% down if it's not going to be my primary residence. Is there a way to put more like 5-10% down. Or, if I do buy it as a "primary", how long would I have to live there before I could resell it...would selling it after the rehab trigger any penalties? Thanks for your help!

Thank you @Jody, I'm on Amazon looking for the books right now! @JScott that makes more sense, I know if definitely depends on your market. I was reading some posts where people were buying buildings with 4 apartments for $100K...you can't even get half a studio apartment for that where I am!

Thanks so much @Scott E. @JustinS, and @KevinBrown! So, maybe I'm getting the timeline wrong. Should I be making an offer first and then getting contractors out there?

Scott -That's a great idea about keeping the bids and learning from it that way. I'm happy to go to Home Depot and spend the time talking to people, but I was just concerned about some of things that you have to be hands on to estimate (ie a bump out, the basement redo, ect). Thanks again!

Hi guys,

How do you determine how much a reno is going to cost? I don't have enough experience yet to estimate costs myself and I'm new to the area and don't have an established relationship with any contractors. I've found myself in kind of a catch-22 because contractors don't want to come and give me a general estimate until I'm at least under contract, but whether I make an offer is contingent on ensuring that the reno costs will make it a viable purchase? Any suggestions would be really appreciated, thanks!

Thanks for the article @brandon turner and the suggestion for the podcasts @ricardo m...I'll check them both out!

Thanks so much for the welcome everyone! @John Moore thanks for the heads up about the meeting in Summit, I'm going to try to make it this Friday.

@Frank Uzzi thanks for reaching out, I'll PM you!

@Account Closed thanks for the welcome! I'm working on reading the article you recommended!

@j martin

@J. Martin thanks for the advice!

Hi Everyone! I'm excited to have found this site! I've been interested in real estate investing for years, but as I'm in the social services field I was feeling completely overwhelmed with not know where to start, and this site looks like an amazing resource. I'm currently looking to buy a 2 family (probably in Bergen county). I would love to network with anyone in the area in order to learn more about this field!