Questions about Greater NYC/NJ Rental Market

[Jen Boyd]

I have been looking into buy & hold investing in the greater NYC area of NJ, primarily Hudson, Essex, and Bergen counties and I've come up with a few questions. I'm trying to understand what motivates people to move and rent in certain areas.

1. Has any one had any success landlording with multifamily homes in Bloomfield, NJ (or places like it - i.e. cheaper railroad stop towns) and had a positive experience and good tenants? Would you recommend this area to live and/or invest? I'm having trouble figuring out the demographic that would want to rent in Bloomfield. I figure most young people would try to live somewhere in Montclair as opposed to a more suburban place like Bloomfield, and young couples would want to BUY a starter home there since the houses are a bit cheaper and its a suburb, but its not really a place for long-term families because the schools aren't great.... so who is renting there? Let me know your thoughts.

2. Do you feel that a lot of people rent single family homes in the greater NYC area? Maybe I am just unfamiliar with it but I always see apartments for rent, very rarely do I see whole single family homes. Is it because it doesn't cash flow to rent a whole house in this area? Or is it because people don't want to rent by the time they can afford to pay for the rent in a single family home? Or am I living under a rock and everyone is renting SFR's right under my nose?

Thanks for your insights.

[Jeff Stewart]

Jen,

I'm also a North Jersey investor. My focus is on fix and flip, so take what I say with a grain of salt; I'm not an expert by any stretch. But based on what I see in Bloomfield, I'd be stunned if you ever found a single-family that met the famed 2% rule. Even 1% would be very difficult. In flippers' terms, a fully renovated 3/2 is generally $325-425k. You could probably find a 3/2 in decent condition for something like $250-275k, but I doubt you could get $2500-2750 in rent. I would think you'd have to be buying at a pretty deep discount to make the numbers work.  

That's just what I've seen. As I said, I'm definitely no expert in buy and hold. Good luck!

Jeff