Building Wealth with Tax Lien Deals, Land Development & Modular Homes in South Jersey

Erik Chodnoff (00:00)
One thing with networking with people is ⁓ they see me as the real deal. when I make that first deal with them and we build a relationship, they’re gonna bring me their deals first, which is great because I get first shot at as opposed to them posting it on the Facebook real estate groups and it gives me the opportunity first to make that deal, to make more money, you know.

So in business relationships are ⁓ a key to my success as far as things go, ’cause it it gives me the opportunity as far as ⁓ getting the deals first. So which is good.

Meghan Escobar (02:09)
Hey everyone, welcome to Real Estate Pros podcast. I am your host, Meghan Escobar. And today I have someone joining me that I’ve really been looking forward to chatting with. We have Erik here on the line who’s been making some moves building single family homes in the module home industry. Is that right?

Erik Chodnoff (02:27)
Correct, yes.

Meghan Escobar (02:28)
Erik, so glad to have you here. I think our listeners are really going to be able to take something away from how you’re approaching your business and ⁓ your strength of being able to find the right piece of property to place these module homes on. So let’s dive in. And first off, people who might not be familiar with your world, let’s give them a short version of what your main focus is these days.

what markets that you’re operating in specifically.

Erik Chodnoff (02:56)
Okay, so ⁓ I’m I’m investing in South Jersey real estate right now for the most part. So I buy land, I put modular homes on them, and I sell them as spec homes. So I mean I I do that in addition to my modular retail business, which I build custom homes for people. So I just started investing about two years ago and I’ve acquired ⁓ about 10 pieces of property at this point. ⁓ so I put a couple homes on them, made some good deals and

Moving along, investing in in more property as we as as I go along.

Meghan Escobar (03:29)
I love that. I love that. And what caught my attention before we got on this podcast is something that you mentioned a huge opportunity for you right now is a potential ⁓ tax lien deal where you could get a lot of properties, a lot of pieces of property to build on. ⁓ Don’t feel like that’s something that comes quite easy in today’s world or in this climate, if you will. what’s been the key to keeping, you know, being able to create that type of relationship and get that

Erik Chodnoff (03:58)
I guess meeting people, networking. So this this this deal happened to come from ⁓ a previous lot I had bought from the same owner. So ⁓ and he’s getting older and just basically looking to get out of the ⁓ real estate entirely and retire. So ⁓ it just might be that one opportunity that, you know, that’s once in a lifetime opportunity. So

You you want me to explain what it is or

⁓ so this gentleman he buys tax liens ⁓ at auctions, then he pays the taxes and hoping to re resell those properties later. But unfortunately, no one’s bought the properties and he’s been sitting on them for years. And at one point he just stopped paying taxes, and now the taxes are accumulating again. So he’s basically just looking to unload them. ⁓ I would buy the tax liens and hopefully develop the property.

⁓ the biggest problem is I have to see is the infrastructure cost of developing the lots. So we have to go through the ⁓ the planning board to get the lots subdivided. We gotta put water in, sewer in, drainage. So the cost could be more than it’s worth. So I I have to do my due diligence and but if it’s worth it, hey, a lot of money to be made.

Meghan Escobar (06:08)
that for you. And as we know, every business owner or operator in all industries, but real estate specifically, they have a moment where things got real, maybe a deal that went sideways or a time that they had to just pivot really fast. Mind sharing one of those moments for you.

Erik Chodnoff (06:28)
i it’s hmm. I I I guess where it’s it’s ⁓ I had an opportunity where I where I was buying a couple pieces of property and ⁓ something else came up and I had one that I was banking on doing it something for later. But ⁓ a better deal came up. So I ⁓ ended up selling a piece of property, made good money on it, but this other property I bought it it’s

gonna be ⁓ a d a deal changer for me in another year after I get it developed. So which is great. So ⁓ so had a piece of property I you know that where I could have made about a hundred thousand off of you know after all was said and done after I developed it. But then another piece of property came up it was a four lot subdivision. So we ended up buying s selling the single lot and buying the the four lot subdivision for for two years down the road to develop.

So and that’ll be a game changer for me ⁓ then.

Meghan Escobar (07:27)
So in the moment, it probably seemed like, man, this is tough, right? But then another another deal, another door opened. Right. And I feel like these are the things that most people don’t talk about. And honestly, it’s what separates folks who just dabble from the ones who are, you know, staying in the game long term. A lot of people don’t make it past a year in in this in this world going through the struggles. So let me ask you,

What are you most focused on solving or scaling next? What’s the next goal for you?

Erik Chodnoff (08:02)
⁓ my next goal would be bigger developments as far as ⁓ doing that. Right now I’m focusing on buying single lots or smaller subdivisions, but like I said, that one twenty lot subdivision would be a game changer for me as far as where I’m at. You know? Mm-hmm. I mean, you know, right now I’m selling homes anywhere between three hundred and seventy five thousand to f you know, four hundred and fifty thousand one at a time. There I could sell, you know, twenty homes.

at at at at one time. So I mean that would be almost like a, you know, probably a, you know, like six million dollar, you know, return on an on investment after it was all said and done. Good money at the end of the day. So

Meghan Escobar (08:44)
Huge, that’s huge, especially when you’ve already got this potential, you said 120 lot potential opportunity in place. So it sounds like that next move can either compound things significantly for you or potentially create some chaos, depending on how it’s played, right? So. ⁓

Erik Chodnoff (09:02)
I’m sorry, don’t forget. It’s only twenty lot, not a hundred and twenty.

Meghan Escobar (09:06)
Okay,

I thought I heard you say 120. Hey 20 still big too.

Erik Chodnoff (09:15)
Twenty is very good for for me at my at my where I’m at. So you know, ⁓ so when I when I get to a hundred and twenty then you can call me D. R. Horton or something like that, one of the big guys. But right now, just a small and just a small guy. So

Meghan Escobar (09:28)
Better to be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big pond, right?

Erik Chodnoff (09:34)
Correct, yes. Yes, absolutely. Yeah, so

Meghan Escobar (09:37)
Yeah, yeah. So listen, I know a lot of people that are listening are either early, early in their journey or they’re looking to level up. And I think they could definitely benefit from hearing this. when it comes to you talked about networking, meeting people, when it comes to building those type of relationships and growing your network, you know, they say your network is your net worth. So what’s the biggest difference for you? What’s I’m sorry, what’s made the biggest difference for

Erik Chodnoff (10:39)
But One thing with me with li with networking with people is ⁓ they see me as the real deal. So ⁓ so when I make that first deal with them and we build a relationship, they’re gonna bring me their deals first, which is great because I get first shot at as opposed to them posting it on the Facebook real estate groups and ⁓ and it gives me the opportunity first to to make that deal, to make more money, you know. So

So in investor relationships ⁓ I’m sorry, business relationships are ⁓ a key to my success as far as things go, ’cause it it gives me the opportunity as as far as ⁓ getting the deals first. So which is good.

Meghan Escobar (11:24)
Yeah, amen to that. You can’t fake that, right? Like, relationships are everything in this space. you know, before we wrap up here, Erik, I think that’s such a solid piece of advice, especially with the world that we live in where it’s so digitally connected, right? The human connection cannot be replaced. So ⁓ I think that’s such a solid piece of advice for anybody who might be just getting into the

the real estate world, the investment world or whatever it might be. But before we wrap up, if someone wanted to reach out to you and connect with you, maybe potentially collab or give you some opportunities or want to hear some more advice ⁓ about what you’re doing specifically, what would be the best way for someone to reach you?

Erik Chodnoff (12:11)
the easiest way to reach me, ⁓ I mean you could you can call me on my cell phone if you need to. is it okay to leave my cell phone number? Drop it. 609 335 0944. ⁓ or if I don’t pick up, just text me. I do screen my calls. So

Meghan Escobar (12:17)
it. Drop the line. Yeah.

Perfect. Might wanna drop that just one more time for the folks listening in.

Erik Chodnoff (12:30)
My cell phone is 609 335 0944.

Meghan Escobar (12:34)
Love it. Perfect. Well, listen, I really appreciate your time, your story, and most certainly your perspective. We need more people in this space doing it the right way, getting out there, hitting the pavement, meeting people, shaking hands, and creating those relationships. So thanks again for being here. And for those of you tuning in, if you got value from this, make sure you hit subscribe. We’ve got more conversations coming in with.

operators just like Erik who are out here building real businesses and real relationships. So we’ll see you on the next episode.