First House Hack in NY/NJ

[Matthew Murray]

I’m a recent college grad currently working in North Jersey and I am looking to purchase a small multi family in the near future to house hack as my first real estate investment. I was wondering if there is someone in the north Jersey/Hudson Valley NY area that can share their experiences purchasing multi family in the area. I’ve been doing a lot of reading and listening to podcasts so I feel as though I have a solid foundation of real estate knowledge in general but I do not have a lot of knowledge about local markets. Any insight would be appreciated.

[Jonathan Greene]

We do two NJ-based REI Zooms a week. You can find them in the events, based in West Orange. These might help you get to know others who are doing the same thing. North Jersey for house hacking is one of the toughest markets in the country now because anything that looks like a deal needs way more work than you think and most things are overpriced and somehow, many people are paying it because they want to house hack so badly. I think the diamond in the rough right now are small 2 BR and 3 BR single-family homes that won't work for a family, but can serve as a one-year FHA live-in and then become a rental after.