All Forum Posts by: Prem Schoff

Hello -

My wife and I are looking to purchase property to hold for 5 years then relocate to another state. In North Jersey area it seems like home are way over-valued. We're looking in Morristown area and bid on one home for it to go $90k over asking. It appears to be a clearly defined sellers market due to pent-up demand over Covid, lack of inventory in general for homes in $450k - $600k range, low interest rates and many people moving out of NYC area into suburbs. 

Our lease is due to renew in 2 months and I've heard that it may be better to wait till 2021 when prices could drop. Just curious what people think in terms of buying now vs waiting a year when trends could favor buyers more. We're looking to hold onto house for 5 years then potentially sell or rent as rental property when we move out of state.

Thanks,

Prem

@Frank Patalano

I live in Northern NJ and this state is just not good in general for cash flow (SFH) due to the high cost and high property taxes - 1% rule doesn't pan out.

I need to look out-of-state but with a demanding day job and newborn it seems turn-key is most realistic option in markets like Tampa, Cleveland, Columbus, Memphis, etc. wondering what others think of that approach. Like others have said, hard to wait for market to correct bc you have no idea when that will be

Hi All -

My wife and I are in process of buying our first home in NJ. Townhouse new construction in Morristown area. I'm a little concerned about tying up down payment in primary residence that could be used for buying rental properties but on the other hand I think it's helpful to start building equity. Does anyone have recommendations on if it's good approach to own your primary residence and buy rental properties vs renting your primary residence and buying rental properties?

Thanks,

Prem

Hi All -

My wife and I are in process of buying our first home in NJ. Townhouse new construction in Morristown area. I'm a little concerned about tying up down payment in primary residence that could be used for buying rental properties but on the other hand I think it's helpful to start building equity. Does anyone have recommendations on if it's good approach to own your primary residence and buy rental properties vs renting your primary residence and buying rental properties?

Thanks,

Prem

Hi All - 

My wife and I are in process of buying our first home in NJ. Townhouse new construction in Morristown area. I'm a little concerned about tying up down payment in primary residence that could be used for buying rental properties but on the other hand I think it's helpful to start building equity. Does anyone have recommendations on if it's good approach to own your primary residence and buy rental properties vs renting your primary residence and buying rental properties?

Thanks,

Prem

Hi Dan,

My wife will be working remotely and going into office in Madison, NJ 2-3 times a week. I work remotely as well and travel to Princeton twice a week and go into NYC once or twice a week. We both liked the Morristown area for low taxes and because of the downtown. We are open to other areas in North Jersey but haven't found many towns that have relatively low taxes, close to nature and have a nice downtown. We were looking at areas around Montclair (the Caldwells) but not finding a lot. My goal for FIRE is SFH and MFH for long-term rental holds but this will be done in South and Midwest as NJ is not a good market for this strategy. I was hoping to make my primary residence a good investment via house hack or slow flip but looks challenging. We've been renting in Hoboken for almost 10 years so we're looking to purchase something before the end of the year so time isn't on our side necessarily in terms of being patient to find the ideal opportunity.

Thanks James! I find the NJ market to be not ideal for BRRRR or just plain old rental properties. I'm looking at turn-key for out of state markets where the 1% rule will work and eventually building a team in select markets (midwest and south). My wife really wants to buy a home ASAP. Would it make sense to avoid a house hack or slow-flip in North Jersey and just focus efforts on my out-of-state REI? I hate tying up a chunk of capital in a non-investment property (our SFH) but not sure the house hack/slow flip is realistic.

Hello BP NJ - 

Wife and I are looking to purchase home in NJ (we currently rent in NJ). Our preferred area is Morristown but we're open to Northern NJ. We are planning on staying in this home for about 5 years. To maximize the investment I'm interesting in going the slow-flip or house hack route. I'm not finding too many duplex or 4plex. Wondering if anyone has feedback on if they've had success finding slow-flips or multifamilies beyond typical via MLS or non-MLS routes. Also was hoping to get some recommendations for investment-focused real estate agents that cover Morris County and Essex County. The real estate agent(s) we're currently using don't seem to have much REI experience and I don't think they are ideal with what I'm looking to accomplish.

Thanks!

Prem

Hello,

I plan to purchase rental properties out of state using combo of turn-key and/or local team for long term holds. My wife wants to buy a primary residence in Norther NJ (tri state area). We are looking at relocating to Pacific North West in 5-6 years. I think it's not a good investment to buy in NJ with high property taxes & property values. When you factor in closing costs (up to 5%) when you buy and commission (6%) when you sell, the property is going to have to appreciate fairly significantly to come out ahead in a 5-6 year span. My preference is rent and use the capital for REI out of state but wife is set on buying.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Prem

@Noel Challenger - Good to know there are still some deals in NJ .. I'm especially interested in multi-family .. in terms of networking, do you recommend joining REI association (such as https://www.meetup.com/New-Jersey-Real-Estate-Investors-Association/) or are there any other specific resources?