Jersey City house hacking

[Charles Mitchell]

Hi all!

So I'm looking to get into my first deal within the next coming months. I've been looking OOS (Jacksonville FL and Kansas City) and while these are both great options, I'm looking to build a little bit more wealth. I know Jersey city is extremely saturated with investors but I haven't seen much on house hacking in JC. I'd love to get some opinions on buying a MF in JC with an FHA. Ideally, the plan is something that needs minimal work (cosmetic only), live in the unit that needs the work and fix it up over the coming year and rent out the others to cover some of the mortgage. I'm not sure if this still makes sense to do in JC and there's not a calculator for house hacking.

Has anyone else done this? What was your experience? 

I feel that house hacking my first deal might mitigate some of the risks of investing OOS. I'd appreciate any and all input!

[Mala S.]

@Charles Mitchell Jersey City varies greatly depending on the neighborhood. The neighborhoods span from luxury highrise condos to 1-2 family class D sketchy neighborhoods.  Jersey City Heights and Journal Square are hot and expensive but have multifamily houses that are house hackable. It makes sense to house hack in these expensive neighborhoods if you are commuting to NYC for a job/ salary that justifies living in an expensive area. You can lower your housing costs by house hacking but you will not live for free or make any additional cash flow in these areas. A 2 family house sells in the 750k-1.5M range in these areas.

Bergen-Lafayaette is another area that is hot these days. Personally I find this area still too sketchy to live in for me. But the hipsters are moving in and this neighborhood will be totally transformed in 5-10 years. A 2 family house sells for 500k-950k  in this area. 

There are parts of JC where you may be able to get a 2 family house for 350K. Or more realistically 400-600K. These are class C/D areas so you need to visit these areas to see if you would be comfortable living there. 

I would recommend checking out Union City, North Bergen & West New York. These are more affordable than the better areas in JC and still relatively safe, nice places to live within easy commute to NYC. A 2 family house would go for 400-900K. 

On the lower end (400k) you could get a 2 bedroom with a studio in-law suite and if you could live in the studio and rent the 2 bedroom then this would be a great idea!