Buying Strategy in Northern NJ

[Fitim Mulosmanaj]

My fiancee and I are looking to buy our first property.   Mostly interested in Bergen County, but some cities in Essex county are also being considered.  

We are concerned about overpaying due to the recent run up in prices and the strategy to mitigate that risk is to dollar cost average into the market.   If we buy our first home then prices tank we are committed to buying another property at that point.  We are considering a couple of approaches:

1) Buy a 2- 4 unit and occupy one unit. They buy a SFH if the market crashes, or when our growing family requires it.

2) Buy a single unit for ourselves (condo or townhome) and plan to keep it as a rental when we buy a bigger home down the road

I have had a few conversations with realtors and gotten some wild variations in advice. Some say SFR is the hottest and prices there have gone up the most. Some say Multi is super hot. Some say the market is cooling, some say it's hotter than ever.

Any general advice is welcome, or referrals to good agents that can help.   My financing is solid.....can do up to 20% down if needed for a multi family, but obviously would like to hold onto capital for the next deal.  

Also, any advice on towns that are attractive would be welcome.   Im somewhat new to the area and just getting to know all the towns.