Hello BP! Newbie investor from Parsippany, NJ

[David Chin]

Hello BP Community!

I've been a lurker for maybe a month or so now and thought I'd at least introduce myself.  My name is David Chin, I'm 30 years old and married over a year now. I grew up in north Jersey not far from NYC, now living in an apartment in Parsippany, NJ for a nice commute to my job as a Quality Engineer.  I've only recently started wrapping my head around real estate investing and have been trying to inundate myself with all the great podcasts and books out there.  

I think everyone knows NJ taxes are awful here and I've been inspired by members in this community taking advantage of multifamily housing to make the numbers work here.  So right now my goal is to find a 3 or 4 unit house ideally around Clifton or neighboring towns since my parents and family are also nearby and I'd like to be close by for when we start a family in the very near future.  After some rough looks at the numbers on duplexes here, I don't feel too confident about being able to positively cash flow them while house hacking, which is why I have more interest for 3-4 unit properties.  

However, I've also pondered the idea that since duplexes are so much more common to find, maybe I can find a deal on one purely for investment instead of owner occupying. I think it would have a better chance of cash flowing in that case with 2 rented units, depending of course on the loan and expenses. I'm not yet sure what all the consequences are for not living in my first home purchase besides losing access to FHA loans, so any advice there would help while I am continuously trying to research and understand it all.

I'd like to find a deal on a multifamily in the next year so ideally and until then will also be trying my best to find ways to save up more since I feel so limited right now in the locations I can make a deal in.  Or if anyone has advice on areas of Passaic and Paterson that they've had success with investing in, maybe I can find numbers that work there sooner than later.  I'm looking forward to this journey and appreciate all the help provided by this community.

[Justin Windham]

@David Chin

Welcome to Bigger Pockets!

You'll find plenty of friendly, knowledgeable people willing to respond to your posts. A lot of forum members are experts in their respective fields related to real estate investing, whether that is real estate sales, wholesaling, flipping, buy and hold investing, lending, self-directed IRA and Solo 401k investing, or tax and legal guidance.

There are some pretty nice discounts on many products and services offered as Perks to BP members that you might want to check out: https://www.biggerpockets.com/perks/pro

The site has quite a few tools that can be helpful for new members. For example, if you are looking to connect with other members near you, want to learn from people in a specific area you’d like to invest in, or have a desire to find people interested in certain topics, you could use the search feature here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/search/users

I really like the alerts feature that can quickly guide you to current topics that may be of interest: http://www.biggerpockets.com/alerts

There are a few self-contained guides that you can access here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/guides