Originally posted by @Lisa Alexander:
Hi - I am a newbie investor looking for my first property. Currently live in North Jersey and my husband and I would like to house hack for a year or so before fully renting it out. Since June or so, the prices here have shot up - from what i can tell most I look at are around $100k + over the value they were the beginning of this year.
Right now I am thinking we wait this out, but wondering what those familiar with this market are thinking about the prices and how that impacts investment opportunities? Do you think house hacking is possible in this market? Do you think the current values are sustainable or will they go back down in a few months or so?
Obviously no one knows for sure, but would love to hear some thoughts around this. I'm currently taking the approach of continuing to keep an eye on the market and analyzing investment opportunities, but thinking next year is going to be more likely for an investment timing wise.
Thanks!
Personally, I think if you are planning to "house-hack" these properties... You are mostly going to the long-term cash-flowing strategy. My mother purchase a multi-family smack dab in the middle of Jersey City (Greenville area) at a decent price. If you plan to hold it for many many years, I don't think that you even need to care how much you are purchasing it for. Likewise, I also purchase my house-hacked house in New Brunswick and I calculated that it will cash flow $1,100+ once I leave the place. I honestly don't care where the market goes from here because I will always cash flow nonethless. I do this with confidence because guess what... My mentor who owns 90 properties here in New Jersey just added 20 of his properties this year alone because he sees that this market isn't going to go anywhere. Rents have never gone down in New Jersey and I believe this is a more important factor than the short-term movement of your property's value. The fact that you can dramatically reduce your expenses house-hacking your own property is a plus itself :D
All I'm saying is that my me and my mother are currently house-hacking two amazing properties right now because we plan to hold these properties for at LEAST 10 years. I know for sure that in 10 years property values will never be this low. This is my two-cents, I hope it helps!
