newbie in northeast

[LS1GTO]

Hi everyone. I just joined the forums and have a question to those who have invested in northern NJ.

-How do you get started?

Everything in north Jersey is so expensive. The places that are more affordable are neigbhorhoods that I wouldn't drive through. For now I'm just looking for rehab properties to use as stepping stones for larger investments. But even distressed properties are still expensive $250k +.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.
-Al

[Las Vegas Real Estate]

You can make alot of money on rehabs as long as their in a nice area.  If you can't float the bill try a pre-construction out of state.  

[auggiemoy]

I"m also a newb in the same area.  I was looking more into Queens, NY because that's the area i live in but Jersey was definitely a viable option to me because some of the properties face the city, enhancing the value of the property.  I think we might have something in common that we can work together on.

[LS1GTO]

It's better to work in the areas that you're familiar with. I've also considered Queens but I don't know it at all. I do know that the properties that face the city on the Jersey side are almost as expensive as the ones in Manhattan. What are some of your plans? I always welcome new ideas.

[auggiemoy]

Well yea i completely agree that the neighborhoods you are familiar with are good starting points becaues you know what's around.  For me i was looking for 2 family houses.  Maybe even a 4 plex for a rehab project.  It was a big deal for me that it had a garage because i tire of looking for parking spaces.  The idea was, if it was a 2 family house to rent out both units.  And if it was a 4 plex, or bigger, to take one unit for myself.  Foreclosed properties aren't preferred but i'm not overlooking them.  But crunch the numbers.  You never know if your rehab project is really worth it or not before you actually see the numbers.  250k could be a really good price but you'd never actually know.