Thinking About Buying a Rental but Don't Know Where to Start?

There are many great North Central New Jersey area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (973) 214-0691 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

We have people coming to us all the time with the question: "Where do I start if I want to invest in rental property?" It's a great question, especially if you don't have any experience in this area of real estate. Luckily, we're here to help:

• Think about how much money you have available for a down payment. Most of the time, to get a mortgage for an investment property you'll need to put 25% down. If it's a primary residence, sometimes you'll be able to put less down.

• Speak to a knowledgeable mortgage broker about investment property products. These differ from primary residence products. I know a few great brokers I would be happy to connect you with if you would like more information.

• Know your criteria for where you want to buy. This comes down to a personal preference. Some people don't want to buy a rental property more than 10-15 minutes away from their home. Others are fine living farther from their rental home.

• Know the details. Now that you know where you want your rental property to be located, you need to find out what the break even point will be and the amount of cash flow you'll have.

For the most part, the types of properties I'm talking about will have a fairly modest cash flow. However, these properties will have the advantage of having tenants who pay the mortgage down for many years. Typically, these should not be viewed as a way to generate short-term cash flow, but as part of a long-term wealth building strategy. These are nice to have if the real estate market isn't trending upward over the next few years, as rentals are in high demand when that happens.

If you want more details about the rental process, don't hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to assist you in this fantastic investment opportunity!

The Key to Finding Your Home's Value

There are many great North Central New Jersey area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (973) 214-0691 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

The most important thing every seller asks is, "What is my home worth?" There isn't really a simply answer to that - the value of your home depends on the area, condition, and many other things. So how do you find out how much your home is worth? Use a 5-point pricing strategy to do just that:

1. Understand market conditions: Market conditions have a huge impact on your home's value. They are often specific to your town and, more often, the specific neighborhood you live in.
2. Know your Zestimate: Zestimates are pretty inaccurate, but if you're looking to sell your home, you should have an idea of what it is. Buyers will almost surely know how Zillow values your home.
3. Understand your tax assessment: Know your tax assessment and how it fits with other homes on the market that have sold recently. Use it to figure out what it will equate to in the sale of your home. 
4. Understand your price band: Check and see how much activity is going on in your price range. What's the average list-to-sale ratio of homes in your price band? What do their tax assessments look like? Know what has sold in the last year to gain an understanding of how your home compares with those sales. These are known as comparables.
5. Understand active homes in your price band: Go through and see where your house would rank among other active homes in your price bracket. The sum total of all the above knowledge should give you an idea of where your home fits in.

This information can be very difficult to come by on your own. A real estate professional can help you dig up that hard to find information so you can get a good idea of the true value of your home.

Even if you don't plan on selling soon, we would be more than happy to help you out. Simply give us a call or shoot us an email so we can determine if it makes sense to put your home on the market!

On location at Top Rated Millburn High School

There are many great North Central New Jersey area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (973) 214-0691 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Many people who are moving to the township of Millburn-Short Hills are coming for the great schools. Millburn High School is a perfect example. The graduating class of 2014 saw 29 of its students go to Ivy League schools - that's 7% of the 409 kids that graduated earlier this year! While that alone says a lot about the quality education available here, there is more: 25% of this year's graduating class went to the top 25 colleges and universities in the nation. There aren't many high schools in the nation that can say that.

People often move here with younger children because the grade schools and middle schools are also elite. You can rest assured that, upon leaving the district, your kids will be well prepared to get a great college education. To go along with the invaluable education opportunities here in Millburn, it is also a very short commute to Manhattan. With all these benefits, it would be tough to find a community that could serve you better!

If you are interested in the area and would like more information, don't hesitate to call or email me. I would love to help you make the move to this lovely little township.