Northern New Jersey House Hacking Search

[Alex V.]

Hi BP Community!

My wife and I recently decided that our first home purchase is going to be a house hack. I work in finance (read really long hours), in downtown Manhattan, so having a short commute is a must. My wife works near the GWB so we also can't go too far south. We started looking where we currently live but the property taxes just kill any 2 families we've looked at so far. People keep telling me that I'm crazy for even trying, it can't be done, blah blah blah. I refuse to believe this! We've considered Newark but my wife is wary about moving too far in front of the path of progress and there aren't many 2-4 family buildings that are close to the nicer high rises. Are there any BP'ers out there that have successfully pulled off a house hack in decent towns in Southern Bergen, Essex, Union, or Hudson counties?