First Purchase - House Hack - South Jersey

[Ty Martin]

Hi BP family!  I am looking for a little bit of advice here, hopefully some of you can help me out.

I am looking for my first property in the south jersey area (I'm from Marlton, work in Mt. Laurel).  I have began looking around and there are a ton of options out there, but I want to see what you all think about the following topics.  Being that I'm pre-approved up to $185k, I'm looking at opportunities with 2+ beds, 2+ full baths, and I am open to anything as far as multi-family (hard to come by), single family, or condos.

For anyone who has started their RE journey in south jersey, I'm looking for some "do's and don'ts"  This can be based on investing in a turn-key / rehab for a house hack, good or bad towns, mutli vs single, whatever it may be.  Really more than anything I'd just like to hear your stories. Thanks everyone!

-Tyler

[Justin Eaton]

Hey Tyler, i have been investing in the SJ area since 2013, specifically in your area. I have done deals in Burlington, Gloucester, and Camden Counties so i could definitely help you out! I do home inspections all over South Jersey as well, so i am pretty familiar with a lot of towns. To answer your question, the most financially rewarding situation would be to buy a duplex that needs work, this is like BRRRR method combined with a house hack. The more work it needs, the more equity you should have off the bat after the rehab is complete, if you buy for the right price of course. Example - you find a duplex for $125k, rehab it for $25k, and by forced appreciation (rehab/updates) your increase the value to $175k-$200k. You would have around $25k-$50k worth of equity right form the jump. (Which you can leverage for the next deal!!) Then you rent one unit and live in the other. Depending on the location and rental income you would probably cover more than half of your monthly PITI payments. It really all depends on how comfortable you are with buying a distressed property and managing the rehab. I have a decent amount of flip experience so i personally would never buy anything turn key. Feel free to message me as well and we can exchange info. I am planning on setting up BP meet ups in the South Jersey area after the new year.

cc: @Morshad Saami Hossain