All Forum Posts by: Tracey G.

@Nicholas Conner Thanks for the input! I've seen a few properties that interested me in Bel Air.

I've also been researching some of those other areas you mentioned, i.e. Edgewood, Havre de Grace. Edgewood seems hit or miss on income and crime levels so I've been trying to figure out what the better areas are. But in general, you gave me some confidence on the areas I've been looking at.

@Nicholas Conner I've been looking into the Aberdeen area. I know about that base because the base near me in NJ was closed and moved down there. Do you have thoughts about Bel Air? I was driving that area last weekend after dropping my son back at college. It seemed like there was a lot of newer housing so I'm wondering if it is in the Aberdeen path of progress.

@Phillip Rosin. My advice to my son who is about to graduate from college with a great job and $27k of loans is not to pay the loans down early. Put the money into savings/investments and then if he wants to, he can use the interest/returns to make additional payments. If I could go back in time, I wouldn't have paid my loan down early.

@Blake Edwards

Employer match only for me. Aggressively saving the rest in my money market. I'm early 50's and want to ramp up my cash flowing assets now.

@Walter Lee Bandy Jr. Sherwin Williams Repose Gray or Tinsmith are great colors. Not too dark but pop real nice against white trim. Repose is more to the beige side, Tinsmith is straight up gray. I used both in my personal home at the recommendation of a Sherwin-Williams color consultant and I get rave reviews. But in a rental you would want to pick one or the other.

@Akash Patel. There is a Monmouth County REIA that meets in Belmar that might be closer to you then Princeton. Central Jersey and Monmouth County Real Estate Investors. You can find them on Meetup.

@Derek 

@Derek Urbealis There are so many different towns here and they all have their own rules. I'd find the website for the town you are looking at and look for their town ordinances. And maybe look for their code enforcement contact.

@Justin Tyler They have already begun growing the population at the ungrad and grad levels. That's been going on since before my son started in 2016 but now they have a specific plan. I've been through the college search twice in the past four years with my two sons. With the spiraling costs of college, I believe that top state universities will become very competitive as families decide they cannot afford private institutions. IMO, as a result, top state universities will choose to grow, have their choice of top applicants, or both. And that will result in competition for housing.

As for prices, by comparison to where I live in NJ, houses in Newark seems cheap! But of course it's a numbers game on the rentals and I don't think you will find a lot of 1%+ deals. And again, you must understand the rental permit rules because they are currently based on area of town, not size of house, and they limit the number of new permits. Not discouraging you from Newark, there are lots of rentals there, but you do need to understand the market.

@Justin Tyler Hi and welcome! Three very different markets you are thinking about. I own a SFR in Newark, within walking distance of the university. My son is a UD senior and lives there with a couple friends/tenants. We are going to hold the house and continue to rent after he graduates. The university is growing their student population and the rental market is currently getting tight, which I see as good long term appreciation potential (but not the reason we are going to hold). However, there are a lot of high-end student apartment buildings going up, so that could change long term. I agree that the taxes are low, but prices aren't cheap, especially for units that come with rental permits. Newark is also in process of a long term rental market study which may result in an overhaul of the permit system. If Newark remains in consideration, definitely get out there and visit the different areas of the city and get familiar with their rules and housing stock. There's some good info on the city website.

@Robert Smith Even if you don't want to go SDIRA, I suggest you roll it into a Rollover IRA, not your new employer's 401(k). I set one up at Schwab years ago and as I left various jobs, I rolled each balance in there. Then I wasn't subject to the limited options in my new employer's plan and also not subject to their fees. I have now moved most of that to an SDIRA that is invested in RE. Had I moved it into my latest 401(k) I wouldn't have had the option unless I changed jobs again. And $100k is totally enough. I have three private loans in the $50k-$60k range.