All Forum Posts by: Mark F.

@Vaughn Smith Thank you, yes no flood insurance and walking distance to the station. Gotcha, would I have to rezone it if its zoned R2? I looked up some advertised 3 family in Garfield and they were zoned R2 as well. Thank you for the insight! Going to call today and possibly stop by in person soon.

@Elizabeth L. Thank you for that! I looked it up and it is zoned for 3 unit as well. Would that make things easier? Forget the bilco doors and water leakage. This property has the exit going right outside and is already set up to a patio/mud room then the exit. I'm unsure on the rest of the layout off the top of my head, like ceiling height and windows etc. Once I get more info, I might message you if that's okay to pick your brain.

@Frank Chin Interesting. Yes, like you said, combining it would avoid the zoning issue but I discovered today it's zoned for 2-4 units so I'm good there. I assume the next and last thing I would need is a CO. I'm totally new so I'm just going to go down to the city office and get the info straight from the horses mouth. 

@Robert Webb From all the threads on BP, apparently NJ townships are giving people crap about doing that. Insane. Even as an OO. Like you said though, I'm cutting the speculation out and going directly to the township to figure out my options. This place is zoned as R2 which I believe is only 2 family. To get it zoned for 3 family is not a cakewalk apparently.

@Jerrett Wilson thanks! The biggest obstacle was either having outbid me, I'm fine with, or having better terms which I cant compete with. I cant waive inspection or appraisal. To overcome this I put in lots of offers and went strictly off the numbers. In my area not only is it competitive but taxes are high. I ran numbers doing my own PM and lawn/snow. I know its I'll advised but that's the only way to make the numbers work in my situation.

Also my realtor put together a profile letter stating my service, I'm a human, etc. I felt like that helped.

@Robert Webb thank you and you're right, it worked out great they wanted to leave on their own. I was factoring them staying but this opens up my options.

On the unit combination, you're absolutely correct on getting more money. The issue is getting it zoned for 3 family here in NJ and good to go is a total PITA from what I've been researching. If I do 2 units with basement, I'll be leaving some money on the table but would have much less hoops to jump thru. The good thing is they did the egress correctly on the basement to the outside.

@Daniel Hyman thank you!

Hey guys and gals,

I know it might not be a huge deal but after checking out properties for over a year and making many offers, I finally had my first accepted! Duplex in Garfield, Bergen county. 2x 2/1 with a finished basement (1/1). Both tenants below market rent and first floor is leaving on their own before I move in. 2nd floor wants to stay but I was going to raise the rent by $50, still well below market. Trying to figure out what I'm going to do exactly as far as which one I'm moving into, first floor and have a coworker/roommate move in or take the basement. I'd like to turn the first floor and basement into one whole unit, making it a 3/2. Still a million things rolling around in my head on what works out for me. Best news is I'm able to use my VA loan so no money in the deal! Minus attorney, appraisal and inspection fees. Haven't gone thru the process with the VA before, just FHA in the downturn. This site and podcast has been great helping me with info and pulling the trigger. Hopefully this goes well and soon after I can start looking for my second property!

I'm not a RE agent but this looks interesting. Thoughts????

https://www.washingtonpost.com/realestate/a-real-estate-association-is-cracking-down-on-off-market-properties-heres-what-that-means-for-buyers/2019/11/11/e391c3ae-0013-11ea-8bab-0fc209e065a8_story.html

Well, I stand corrected. I just checked the site and got rid of that part of their screening process. In the FAQ, it says they no longer do any background checks without SS #'s. Glad to see they've gotten rid of that horrible policy.

https://www.mysmartmove.com/Sm...

I know this is a couple months old but I had a question in regards to this. I'm looking at adding a finished basement to the first floor to make a 3/2 total. Basement has a full bath and first floor is a 2/1. Seems like this is much easier than trying to get a whole separate unit. What all is involved? Going to the specific township and getting CO's? Again the basement is finished and doesn't need much other than new bilco doors that are leaking and some trim replaced. Thanks!

Originally posted by @Ken Dayal:

@Hannah Canario 

I use www.mysmartmove.com to screen tenants. Tenants pay for credit & background check. The site allows them to securely enter their info without divulging confidential info, such as SSN. Landlord gets a report with recommendation to rent or deny.

Curious to know about your deal as we invest in North Bergen. 2-fam or higher, how much did you pay, how many bedrooms per unit, area of town- closer to Braddock park or 1/9 ? And rents you intend to charge per unit? 

 I know this is an old thread and that is a 3 year old post but I want to offer advice for any who comes across this. Doing a background check with no SS # is not something I'd ever go with. I've worked in law enforcement for 10 years and you could easily miss many things only by checking name and date of births. I clicked on the site and it's still active. Didn't look into it anymore but I'll never do a background check without obtaining a social. I'm aware illegals don't have a social but I'd use my LE connects in that instance.