Newbie from Secaucus, NJ - Trying to House Hack in Northern NJ

[Greg De Sciscio]

Hello BP,

My name is Greg and I'm new to the BiggerPockets community. I grew up and spent most of my life in Northern New Jersey. I currently work in Clifton as the Creative Director of a small web firm. I discovered BP through a friend about a month ago and have been listening to podcasts, reading the forums, guides, articles, and attending webinars (well, one so far). I've also been reading Chad Carson's Retire Early With Real Estate and am fascinated by the concepts and stories of other real estate investors.

At the beginning of 2016 I took control of my finances and aggressively paid my way out of $25k worth of credit card and student loan debt (huge "thank you" to the Personal Finance subreddit for being a fantastic resource). I began investing in stocks and retirement about two years ago, and now I believe I'm ready to get my feet wet with real estate.

I'm currently in the process of searching for my first property. My goal is to house hack a small multi-family (2–4 units) somewhere in North Jersey. I've been looking at the following markets:

• Jersey City
• Union City
• Lyndhurst
• Bloomfield
• Garfield
• North Arlington
• Kearny
• Wallington

I attended the "90 Day Challenge" webinar last Wednesday, and since then I've connected with a real estate agent and have been speaking with a couple of lenders to try and figure out my budget. The options here for multi-families in my price range are limited, but I believe I can make this work if I find a good enough deal.

I'm nervous, but excited about this new venture. I'd love to connect with investors, agents, contractors, lawyers, or anyone else in this wonderful community. I'm open to hearing any advice you'll give me. I'm already so grateful for what I've learned here, and I'm looking forward to meeting people and learning more.

Best,

Greg