House Hacking in New Jersey/NY

[Abdoul Guisset]

Hi all! 

I am still fairly new to the Bigger Pockets community (although created one post before) and I started looking into House Hacking.

Little background: I've been working for 2 years now and wanted to start my real estate journey! I already have been looking into buying a rental property out of state but in the mean time I decided to see if it made sense to house hack here in NY.

Looking at listings, I am considering buying a SFH or MFH (if possible) around Jersey City, North Bergen, Union City.
I'd like to use a FHA loan but from my understanding some condos are not FHA approved which makes the search a little bit harder.

Union City looked like a good option to me but it seems that the rent control might be an issue.
North Bergen has some choice of SFH within my price range.

For info, my price range was set ~400k (I know that's not a lot). I am not necessary looking for a profit as I house hack, I know that it is very hard, if not impossible, to find properties that cash flow in the NYC. 

I'm looking for some advice on how feasible it is to invest in these areas and how I can narrow my search down. Appreciate the help! :)

[Jonathan S.]

Look in towns along the train line in North Jersey. I'm about to make the move into a house hack as well. For me the math is more about finding something of good value, in a desirable area. After rent from the other unit(s) I'm willing to pay up to what I would otherwise be paying in rent to cover the mortgage, as long as I can move out and the full rent covers costs. cash flow is less important to me at this time since I'm using FHA and will be holding long term. I know I can refinance down the road and cash flow which works for me. Also theres an immense amount of competition so be prepared.