All Forum Posts by: Mark Scarola

@Mark Gee. Sorry we already have a Mark! Just kidding - I look forward to seeing you there.

@Michael Germinario. Sorry you won't be able to attend, but I appreciate your letting me know. 

@Arlene S. Great. I look forward to meeting you.

Wow, what a pleasant surprise! Interesting how we all assumed the worse. I'm glad it worked out though. Now you can rest easy knowing what they wanted and not letting your mind wonder about what might be. Keep up the good work and thanks for the update.

Hey Mike,

Sounds like you did everything right and that you were quite thorough at that. Everything is right there in front of them documented with pictures, receipts, and references to the lease. What can they question? Odds are they just want to vent and complain. 

I wouldn't avoid them, but I certainly wouldn't seek them out either if I were in your position. Hopefully they stop calling, but if you do answer don't let them get an emotional reaction from you. Stay professional and as others have already said if the tenant wants to dispute something, you can politely tell them to do so in writing.

Hi @Wayne Ulias and welcome to the site. I'm sure you'll find ways to transfer your sales skills into the world of RE investing. 

BTW, no pressure but if you're interested (you mentioned wanting to network) there's a Monmouth County investors meeting in two weeks in Freehold.

@David Putz or anyone else who may be reading this... you can set up keywords by going to http://www.biggerpockets.com/alerts or scrolling up to the top right of this page and clicking on the grey button that says "Manage Keyword Alerts".

Whenever our group has a meeting it will be posted with the heading "Central Jersey Meeting" and so if you include that as one of your keywords you should be automatically notified whenever a new meeting is scheduled.

Plenty of people have gone the rent out a duplex, triplex while living in one of the units yourself route before and done well for themselves. But be careful because if your tenants know you live next door, you can't hide from them. I'm not saying you should hide from your tenants, but there is something to be said for keeping your work and personal lives separate. 

Agenda

Since our last meeting was cancelled, a few changes have been made to the group. We'll begin with a brief review of the changes as they affect the group moving forward. 

As we've done in the past we'll have time for introductions that will hopefully help people determine who they might want to network with before the evening is over. 

We will have a case study presentation (a review of an actual deal) by one of our members. We'll then have an open discussion about some other actual properties currently available for purchase. Finally, if time permits we'll also touch upon some creative ways to make use of (profit from) a property aside from residential ownership.

Date & Time

Thursday, May 28th. You're welcome to arrive anytime after 6:30PM. We'll begin the meeting itself at 7:00 and wrap up by 8:30-9:00. There will then be additional time for those who would like to stick around and network.

Location

We'll be meeting at the Radisson Hotel in Freehold. It's located at 50 Gibson Place, Freehold, NJ 07728. It's near Freehold Raceway Mall, Wal-Mart, and the intersection of Routes 9 and 33.

There will be no food or drink provided, though the hotel does have a restaurant and a bar if you want to eat there or just hang out. The $10 admission fee is to cover the cost of renting the meeting space. You can pay in cash when you arrive. If the $10 is a financial hardship for anyone, please address me privately.

If you need directions to the hotel or get lost, you can reach the front desk at 732-780-3400. When you arrive we'll be meeting in a room called Salon C.

Misc.

• All are welcome to attend. There are no prerequisites or experience requirements.
• Please RSVP so that I can have a headcount for seating purposes.

Tags/Keywords: Central Jersey, Jersey Shore, Central NJ, Monmouth County, Middlesex County, Ocean County

The August 2014 meeting? No, that date has well passed. 

The group however still exists. If you'd like to be added to the mailing list to be informed of when the next meeting is just send me a PM with your email address.

Hi @Eugene Harris. I live right in your area and coordinate a Monmouth County group. We're in the middle of doing some restructuring, but will be re-launching our group shortly. If you send me your email address (privately) I'll add you to the list so you'll know when the next meeting is. 

Hi @Mark Myslinski,

While the numbers are of course important, you have to consider all of the variables. Do you want to be able to physically drive past your property or will you be content to trust someone else to do it? Will you trust someone out of state to make repairs and do a reputable job? Maybe with your connections in FL the answer would be yes. I don't know. Only you can answer that question. My point is that you still have to sleep at night.

As far as your money question, whether you use loans or not, my suggestion is to make sure that you don't overextend yourself on your first deal. You may get excited, but make sure that you have some reserves for those unexpected situations that inevitably crop up. It's also not a bad idea to invest in two less expensive properties to start off than one more expensive - just in case you overlook something major while you're still learning.