Getting started--what was your first property in Bergen?

[Carol C.]

Hi everyone, recently joined and am excited to get started on real estate investing. A little about me--I live in Bergen County with my husband and two kids, and during the day I work as senior in-house counsel at an investment bank. While we are objectively high earners, this area has such a high cost of living, so we are not going to become wealthy any time soon on our double W-2 income. I am looking to get into real estate investing to build wealth, maximize tax savings and provide our family with some flexibility. 

I'm still very much in the beginning stages of learning and putting together my plan of action, but curious to see how others do it in Bergen County where the housing prices are so high. What was your first property? How did you finance it? How much did you finance? My goal is to buy something small (1-2br condo) in the next 18-24 months, and see where it goes from there.

Thank you!

[Noreen Eddy]

Hi friends!  Good for you, @Carol C.!  We had a similar come-to-Jesus moment in spring 2016 and realized the same thing (even more motivation - my line of work doesn't even boast a steady W-2).  We almost started with a condo, but then realized what we really wanted was a duplex.  So, we sought out our unicorn - ahem - our 2-family house in NNJ commutable distance to NYC.  

We eventually found a 2-family on the MLS-- turned out it was a foreclosed HUD property. We're also in Garfield (hi @Sunny Burns!). I joke that we found the ugliest house in the nicest neighborhood we could afford. We put 3.5% down through an FHA 203k. 14 months later, we've gut-renovated the 2nd unit, replaced a staircase, put renters in place upstairs, and reappraised + refinanced into a conventional loan with a BRRRRRRRish (how many r's?) strategy. Taxes here are high, but so are average rents compared to other markets.

Every investment is a little different!  I encourage you to analyze your target market for ten minutes a day, every day, for a month.  You'll figure out what strategy best works for you!  Please reach out if there's anything we can do to help!  We have some great resources (lender, contractors, etc) to recommend.