Jersey City - First Time Home Buyer | House Hacker

[Sam Hopwood]

Hi All

I will be relocating to Jersey City soon from South Africa. I currently have a pre-approval for 700k and am looking to find a multi-family unit with one apt. to live and another to rent out. We are looking to be close to public transport routes into both Newark and Manhattan (Journal Square area would be ideal).

I appreciate that this is a very open question but does anybody have any advice given we are totally new to the area and indeed the country?

We are doing as much research as possible on the property market and legal environment, have a realtor and lawyer assigned to us. Bond will run at ~3.2k per month so we don't foresee making positive cash flow whilst house hacking but would fully expect to once we move out and have both/all homes rented out.

Really happy to hear from anyone as we want to definitely take action in the next few months if possible

Thanks, Sam

[William Kwong]

Hey Sam,

Hope all is well. - Congrats on making the move in the upcoming months! I would definitely put this entirely on your realtor as that individual needs to be your local area expert. Regarding my two-cents, Jersey City Heights is another area you can look into that is feasible to get to Newark as well as Manhattan. The closer you are to Hoboken, the more accessible you are to the 2 Lightrail stations in Hoboken that are walkable depending on subject property. But properties that close may be over 700K. These will also add an additional mode of transportation for you. A lot of Heights residents take the light rail 5 stops (13 minutes give or take) to Exchange Place where you can hop on the Newark Line or 1 stop to world trade going the opposite route. Light rail to Hoboken also can offer a similar route for both.

If you're putting down 20% cashflow positive is more likely but less than that is difficult depending on condition. - Return on equity is the play in Jersey City in my opinion (especially the heights). Best of luck!

Bill