Bergen County House hacks and multi families

[Lisa Alexander]

Hi - my husband and I are looking in for a house hack in Bergen County NJ. We see some houses in areas like Midland Park, Tenafly and Ridgewood, which don’t have huge multi family markets. Does anyone have experience with house hacks in areas like these?  I’m wondering about the vacancy rate for areas like these. Any thoughts would be helpful!

[Kevin Hill]

Hi Lisa, you are right. Those towns don’t have many multi-families and it’s been further exacerbated by the low available inventories this year. Most single family homes in Bergen County were large single family homes that were converted into 2 families. Southern Bergen County (ex. Carlstadt, Elmwood Park, Garfield, Fairview, Lodi, Wallington) has more multi-families. Eastern Bergen County (ex. Cliffside Park, Palisades Park & Fort Lee) they have newer/new construction duplexes, but those are often expensive. Bergenfield has some 2 family inventory. Not saying it’s impossible to find a multi-family in those towns you mentioned, you just have to jump on them right away when they come on the market.