New Investor Struggling to Find Deals in NJ Multi-Family

[Rom Smith-McCloud]

Hey BP Community, first time investor looking for some guidance here. My brother and I have been looking at multi-family units in the North Jersey area for the past few months (about 25 properties). We plan on living in one unit and renting out the others. Unfortunately, we've struggled to find deals. We've been using the BP rental calculator to assess properties and most fall below 10% cash-on-cash return. We've also had a few instances where the seller's agent has admitted they don't think the property will appraise up to our offer, and have asked us to commit to paying the difference. There are other properties where the seller counts bedrooms in a basement (not legal in NJ), which could make or break our analysis if we count on rent for those. All of this makes me think that in the current market, it's almost impossible to find an investment quality deal, especially in New Jersey. Either that, or I'm being too conservative with some of my rent & expenses estimates, but I don't want to fool myself into a bad deal. Have others encountered these same issues? Any advice on how to find deals on multi-family properties in current conditions? Appreciate any insight you all might have. Thanks!