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