Buying my first property in Northern New Jersey, Seeks Guidance!

[Andrew Bukowski]

Hello BP,

I have posted on the forums before with a great influx of support along with motivation, and these are two things that I am looking for as I am looking to buy my first property!  I have had the opportunity to meet great people on here, @Rob Suhai showed me a property in Hopatcong, NJ however it was a SERIOUS 'fixer-upper' and out of my budget when it came to renovations.  On that note, I am looking for strong guidance, someone I can meet with in person that has the experience and knowledge that can be relayed to a first time buyer/investor! And hopefully build a strong relationship for more deals in the future! Now for some backstory; starting 4/1/17, I will be renting a room via craigslist in Morristown, NJ which is on a MTM basis, just recently I sold a large percentage of my co-owned valet company, and with the tax season, I am looking to use this cash to buy.  I want my first buy to be SMART, hence the guidance.  Renting this room will allow me to take my time when conducting research on the market, versus jumping into something that may lead to regret.  I am not working with that much of a down payment (25K-30K), a reasonable amount but keeps me at a lower budget.  I want to buy a property that I can live in and either create a second unit, rent out the bedrooms, only to reduce my own income going into the property/mortgage.  So I am stuck between three things I would say; a 2-3 unit house, a house with 2-4+ bedrooms that I can rent out any additional bedrooms at the market value, or a one unit house that can 'easily' be converted into two units.  I don't have any preference on the three, it comes down to the deal and location.  I am wondering, as a first time home buyer, if I should use this leverage to put less of a percentage down, allowing me to buy something of higher value, or to put +/-20% down and buy something I know I can handle financially.  No matter what, even if it is a 2 bedroom, I will be renting out the second bedroom.  I want this to be an investment property of any scale.  I currently work in RE (JLL), I have focused my career path towards RE, and after selling my share in my business, I want to reinvest.  I want to find someone that knows the tricks of the trade, what is a good deal versus bad, strong knowledge of the NNJ area, etc etc.  Before I make this any longer, I am very very serious about buying, I would like to in the next 3-6 months, I currently live in Hopatcong, NJ, I work in Bedminster, NJ, so areas such as Hopatcong, Stanhope, Netcong, Morristown and surrounding area, and even more down south, Bridgewater, NJ etc.  It all comes down to the deal, I don't have a preference in location (I really like Morristown however), for the time being, I am not interested in Bergen and Hudson Counties due to the distance to my work (Bedminster, although I love out east, its the golden coast).  I hope to hear from the group soon and genuinely looking forward to working alongside a fellow BP member (please excuse any informalities).

Best