House hacking in a Duplex in New Jersey

[Leslie Monroy]

Hello everyone! I'm looking to invest in a duplex in NJ to house hack.  Any thoughts on Bloomfield, NJ or other towns that could appreciate well and have or lead to positive cash flow?  Thanks!

[Natalie Schanne]

@Leslie Monroy - what’s your goal? Do you want to live here 1-2 years and then buy something else, or is this your near term home until something in your life changes (kids, job)?

If you have the income, buy as big of a place as you can afford (like a quadplex). If you’re near commuter lines to NYC, you can also get tourist income on Airbnb. If you’re near the Newark airport you can set up a pilot crash pad. I’ve been most successful building wealth with positive cashflow by buying houses that were like 6/3’s and renting to other solo professionals who lived with me and shared my kitchen and laundry instead of 2 one bedroom or two bedroom apartments. But it’s a privacy thing that you may or may not be able to work with. Here’s my current calculus in my area of New Jersey NJ - each 1 furnished room rents for $1000-1200/mo with like 5% vacancy and each furnished 2 bedroom apartment rents for $2500-3000/mo with 10-15% vacancy. Both of these cost you (from rent) utilities, amenities supplies like paper towels, and furniture deterioration. When you’re sharing the space with others in a 6/3, you have like $5000/mo of income because you’re consuming a $1000/mo space. When you keep a 1-2 bedroom apartment for yourself, usually the numbers pencil out to something like $4000 mortgage, $2500 rent, so your net rent is $1500. It’s subsidized but you don’t live for free. Let me know if that makes sense or not.

Connect with @Nick Tang in North Jersey to join a great real estate investing association (REIA)