First Deal with a Goal of House Hacking

[Vincent Villani]

Hey everyone! I've been listening to the BP podcast for months now, and I've finally decided to dive into this. 

I'm currently brainstorming ideas for my first deal, and I have some very specific criteria in mind. I'd just like to bounce these ideas off you more experienced investors and, hopefully, learn a few things. With full transparency, please allow me to explain my current situation:

I've graduated college recently and begun my first real intense occupation. I'm currently a medical device sales rep for a large corporation. For those who aren't familiar with this style of job, I'm on the road all day every day - I'll support a surgery in the morning, bounce from one hospital to another, to various Dr. offices, and so on. I currently live in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, but my territory is now northern New Jersey, Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. Most of my time is spent in north NJ, Brooklyn, and Queens more specifically. I drive a car (no worries, it's on the company), and no, unfortunately I cannot take a train every day into the city due to the fact I may visit multiple accounts in one day. 

I have to move for my job, preferably as close to NYC as possible. My desire is to move into northern NJ and close to the city. Sure, most guys my age (23) want to head into Hoboken or Jersey City to have a blast, but it is incredibly expensive and there's virtually no such thing as parking. Not to mention, purchasing a home in either of those cities will be far outside of my budget for a first-timer.

My goal here is to buy a duplex for my first deal and house hack, or rent out, the other apartment. I currently make around $70k. The most desirable area for me to live would be Englewood, NJ. It's not too expensive, in a nice area in Bergen County, and close to my accounts in New York City. However, I find it difficult to find much online in terms of duplexes or multi-family. I plan on speaking with a realtor about the area specifically. However, I wanted to bounce this off all of you as well. I've found numerous single family homes or condos in Englewood that are very spacious, nice looking, up-to-date, and very affordable (less than $100k). Many of the duplexes or multi-families I've been finding online are upwards of 300k. Even with an FHA loan, it's a bit too risky for me on a first deal. Not to mention they seem to be in poor shape.

My major questions to you all are if anyone is familiar with North Jersey, or what your thoughts are on a condo vs house hack, etc. Thank you for your invested time in reading this!

VV