New investor in NJ. Low inventory, target specific area

[Allen Collins]

Hey guys, this is my first post. I've been completely obsessed with the idea of owning a multi-family and house hacking to get started. For the last 3 months I've done nothing but educate myself. For the last 2 months I've been looking hard at an area, considering every multi-family on the market. Unfortunately, the properties that made sense were scooped up before I even had a chance to look at them. Now what I want to do is really close in on an area, learn that market and try to get a list of all multi's and start contacting the owners.

Can anyone give me their experience in doing this type of home search? I would also appreciate so much if anyone has any tips or advice for me on ways I can maximize my chances of closing on something with this approach. 

Lastly, I'm moving into Sussex County NJ, if anyone is in the area I would love to network. I currently have a few businesses and do mountain ultras. I'm extremely driven and motivated and I know I would be an asset to anyone interested in networking with me. If you made it this far, thank you for reading!

[Shawn Mcenteer]

Hi @Allen Collins welcome to BP.  House Hacking is great way to go.  My wife, 4 kids and I all house hacked for few years around North Jersey.  Great memories and the returns have been awesome.  Depending on what you are willing to do you can alter the properties numbers tremendously, for example our second house hack had 1 unit with an estimated rent of 1900/month.  We found the hidden value and by making a few simple altercation we turn into 2500/month unit.  What I find in north jersey is that it can be very tough to look at properties for what they are.  In most case you need to find the hidden value