All Forum Posts by: Tyler Holzer

Hey Michael,

I’m actually from Clark, and closing on a houseback in Pennsauken, NJ. I haven’t worked in real estate up near home, but just being from there I can maybe give some advice. If you’re looking for a small multi-family, you’ll probably find pretty short supply (and expensive at that) in Clark, Westfield, Kenilworth, Cranford, and towns like that. If I were buying a rental property in that area I’d probably look towards Elizabeth, Edison, or Unions. I could be wrong, but I’d imagine you’ll find cheaper prices, more multi-families, and a stronger rental market. 

Hope this helps!

I have an accepted offer for a duplex in Pennsauken, NJ. It’s a bank owned property that we’re using a 203k loan for purchase and rehab. I am wondering what others’ experienced have been with utilizing a lawyer for the attorney review period? Did you use one? Why or why not? And was it worth the price?

I know I know, no one would ever advice against getting a lawyer, and it’s good to play it safe, but in practicality do you think it’s worth it?

Thanks in advance for your response!

I am buying a duplex this summer for the purpose of a house hack. I will live in one unit and rent out the other. I am not sure if I should have my tenants pay all of their own utilities directly, or if I should pay the utilities and then have the tenants pay me? I've also heard the house's mechanicals are a factor in this, but I am not sure how. 

Similarly, should they be paying for lawn care and snow removal? What works for all of you?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

I am gearing up to buy my first house-hack in South Jersey, but am running into a snag with my analysis! I'm using an FHA and buying off the MLS, it's going to be pretty straight-forward - I'm not expecting giant cash flow, but I'm looking to get my feet wet.

I hear all the time in the podcast to analyze a bunch of deals, but I feel like the huge variable I'm always missing is an estimated rehab budget. I think the rest of the numbers are relatively easy to access, but I don't see another way of analyzing the deal besides getting an offer accepted and physically getting contractors and inspectors in the property. While that's well and good, I feel like that's really late to analyze the rehab budget. Maybe that's standard practice to wait that long on a deal like this, I just don't know. Basically, do I have to wait that long to figure out if it's a good deal? Any advice?

I am going to buy my first property over the summer with an FHA, and plan to ideally house-hack a duplex, as there's quite a few in my target area. I'm running into some problems with my analyzes, however, because I'll be occupying one of the units, so only half of the property will be generating income from tenants. Thus, I can't imagine the whole property will generate positive cash flow. Does that make sense?

Instead, should I just analyze the tenant-occupied half of the property? If so, should I apply half the whole properties expenses to that unit for the calculations? For instance, if monthly expenses for the whole property equal $1000 per month, should I apply $500 to the tenant-occupied unit to figure out cash flow? Then, if rent is $700, I'll be generating $200 in cash flow. The owner occupied half, meanwhile, will be completely separate and just be normal living expenses. 

Does this seem correct? Any advice on how to properly analyze a house-hack?

I'm looking to get my first rental property soon near Cherry Hill, and am reading The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs by J Scott. In the book, he mentions that rehab costs can be higher in states like NJ and NY. I plan to use the costs outlined in the book to estimate rehab, but does anyone have any advice on how much extra I should be budgeting for my rehab costs considering it's an expensive market? Naturally, I'll verify final numbers with a contractor, so I just plan to use this for my preliminary analyses. Thanks for any advice!

I'm fairly new in real estate, and understand the importance of knowing my local market, and I hear a lot in the podcast about the an impending recession. Does anyone have a good free source for learning about the changing real estate market? Both nationally and perhaps locally (I'm from Philadelphia). I would very much like a good source for understanding how the market is changing around me besides the podcast. Thanks, any advice is much appreciated!

I can't say anything about this quality, but I met a Real Estate Attorney this weekend at a meet-up. I can't post it here because I can't leave contact info, but I'll message you. 

Hi! Single family rental, possibly duplex.

What are the good markets in South Jersey? I just recently moved from North Jersey to Philly. I've been selling properties in Philly, but am looking to start personally investing in South Jersey as well. Any suggestions for hot markets down here? I'm really only familiar with Philly and Delco. Thanks!