Multi Family House Hack - Elizabeth/Newark Area

[Chris Pickering]

Hello BiggerPockets Community!

My wife and I currently rent in Brooklyn but plan to buy a multifamily in New Jersey to start our real estate journey. We'd like to get closer to my work in Perth Amboy but need to be within reach of NYC so we're targeting the cities with NJ transit stations in eastern Union/Essex Counties (Rahway, Linden, Union, Elizabeth, Irvington, Oranges etc.)

After saving and researching over the last couple of years we are finally ready to start putting our team together. Ideally, we'd like to get a 3 family unit that needs some TLC and would like to pursue the 203K rehab option, so not only do we need a great agent who knows the area but will need to start talking to 203K approved contractors as well.

I'm also curious if the expertise of our agent will be enough for navigating the contracts/closing or if we need to hire an attorney soon as well. Would love some recommendations.

Thanks!