Question about areas in Southern Bergen County New Jersey

[Colin Riley]

Hello Everyone,

I am new to BiggerPockets and to the area, I recently took a job offer in New York City and I reside in a small rental unit in Hoboken.  I am looking to move out of Hoboken soon and get started in real estate either with rental properties or with buy and hold properties for future sale.  I am not too familiar with the Northern New Jersey area outside of Hoboken and I am looking for opportunities in up and coming towns.  I don't like the traffic, congestion or the high taxes of Hudson County so I am evaluating southern Bergen County.  

I haven't done a lot of research but there are two towns that I have identified as having future potential where there appears to be value:  Garfield and North Arlington.  

Garfield has access to the train system into New York City and Hoboken and it is not as pricey as its neighboring towns such as Rutherford, Lyndhurst or Hasbrouck Heights.  There also seems to be a decent amount of inventory available, including multi-families and real estate taxes are not high by New Jersey standards.  There also appears to be a healthy rental housing demand in Garfield and the market rents would support the expenses and generate income. 

North Arlington does not have the train access, and the taxes are generally higher than Garfield, but it appears to be a good family town - recently voted by Time as the Number 1 town in United States  to raise a family and one of the best 10 towns in America by Money magazine/realtor.com.  Specifically, there are two areas of the town that I liked, Truman Road and Geraldine Road, both of which have great views of the New York City skyline.  I am monitoring this specific area, but there are no properties currently available, and they don't seem to sell for a significant premium.   

Can someone share their thoughts or their knowledge of these two areas?

Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Colin

[Alex V.]

Hi @Colin Riley,

Welcome to BP! Yes North Arlington and Garfield both have the right blend of MF housing stock with decent pricing and low enough taxes to make small MF properties work. Both have some benefits and drawbacks. 

Commuting from North Arlington can be a little bit of a pain. Unless you leave very early in the morning, the bus commute can be very spotty. From Rutherford it can vary anywhere from 20 minutes (prior to 6:30AM) to 2 hours (after 7:30AM) depending on traffic and if a bus breaks down. It may only be certain areas but North Arlington bus service is DeCamp, instead of NJ Transit, which is not as frequent or reliable. With that being said, North Arlington is a great town. There are a lot of good restaurants, especially a few very good Indian places. 

In Garfield you should be careful of where you buy. There was a major chemical spill in the 80s that wasn't properly contained so there is a large section near the Garfield train station where high levels of chromium have been found in basements of homes. It's designated as an EPA Superfund site but given the current administration's EPA head, don't expect anything to happen there in the next 3 years. Here's an article with a map of contamination area:

http://www.nj.com/bergen/index.ssf/2012/09/epa_to_...

At the very least, make sure you have properties tested for chromium in during the inspection phase. One other thing worth noting is that the train stops at the Plauderville station much more frequently than the downtown Garfield/Passaic Ave stop. In general the Plauderville side of town is much more residential and has a more neighborly feel to it. There are a few people on BP that have successfully house hacked in Garfield, one was a podcast guest. The values and taxes make it a very attractive place to invest.

Outside of Southern Bergen County, there's also Clifton, Bloomfield, and Belleville for towns you may be interested in. Taxes are higher in Essex county so from a numbers standpoint they are a little tougher to make properties cash flow. Good luck with your hunt and feel free to reach out with any questions!