Aspiring investor from the Northern NJ area.

[Nelson M.]

Hello BP community!

First off, let me start by saying that this website and its members are awesome. I have been reading the forums, the guide, listening to podcasts, etc. Out of all the sites I've read, BP seems to have the most accurate and helpful information out there. Thank you guys. 

With that being said, I am happy to be here and excited to start investing! Some background about me: I'm 26, a full time employee, and I hold a bachelor's degree in finance. I live in north NJ and I am looking to purchase a multi-family property soon to live in it while renting the other unit(s). My only issue is that I do not have a large amount of cash for a DP except for $10,000 that I plan to borrow from my 401k and seeing as how prices in my area are around $200k-400k I'm hoping that a 3.5% FHA loan leaves me some room for cashflow.

My short term goal is to purchase 2 multi family units next year after the one I'm going to be living in. From analyzing my market, it seems like the most efficient strategy around here would be to buy homes in need of rehabbing and use 203k loans to get them up to standards, which would undoubtedly generate occupancy and cashflow. My long term goal is to purchase enough properties and do real estate investing full time. 

P.S- I was considering opening up a property management company seeing as how I'm going to be managing my own and I wouldn't mind the work as it is mostly about being highly organized. My only concern is that NJ requires a broker's license to open this business and for that I need 3 years of employment as a RE salesman in order to apply for a broker's license, which I I don't have time to do because I'm going to stay in my career working full time for now as well as investing. Does anyone have any experience with this? Would I be able to get my license in another state and use it here?

Sorry for the length of this post haha. I still have many more questions but I will pace myself. I'm just excited to finally dive in. 

Hope everyone has a great weekend.