All Forum Posts by: Vincent Villani

Hey Vincent,
I am also looking to House hack a duplex/triplex on my first deal. Just wanted to wish you luck on your first deal. Please let us know how things turn out I’d be interested to know. Also, you may consider renting in that part of the town for a while to become familiar with the area and also avoid the horrific traffic. Best of luck!
-Frank M.

@Vincent Villani I own one condo in JC Heights which I house hack and another in nearby North Bergen. My tenants' rents in both properties cover my mortgage, taxes, HOA fees, and provide $250-450 of cash-flow every month. All that is to say that a condo can work in some situations if you know the risks/benefits and you pay the right price. As others have said, the big down-side with condos is that some of the decision-making is largely out of your hands. If the condo association wants to do some aesthetic work in the building's garden, you and everyone else in the building are on the hook for the tab. This can obviously hurt an investor's bottom-line as these changes don't always boost the property's value (higher expenses w/o the correspondingly higher rent/market value that any good investor demands). That being said, if you're okay losing some authority/control, don't shy away from condos especially if you're looking for a low-risk entry into real estate. I say low-risk because the main benefit of the condo structure in my mind is that costs are shared. If the roof suddenly needs to be replaced, that cost is spread across the apartments instead of just yourself as it would be with a single or multi-family. PM me for any further area-specific questions.

I'd be very cautious about a condo (speaking from personal experience here...). You're subject to 1) dealing with the HOA and their decisions, 2) paying HOA fees every month, which can seriously hurt his margin, and 3) rent restrictions, where the complex only allows a certain percentage of properties to be pure rentals (fine if you live there, but if you move, you can't hold onto the property as an investment).

I house-hacked my 2/2 into a 3/2 by closing off the dining room into a 3rd bedroom. It's a great location, and the rent covers a little over the cost of the mortgage each month, leaving me to just pay the HOA fee. The biggest downside isn't the HOA fees though; it's the rent restrictions. If I could go back, I'd probably go single family so that I could move in a year, get a low down payment requirement on my new property, and still keep the old as a rental.

I️ would say that you should look into the city of Bayonne @Vincent
I️ have a great agent over there.

Hi Vincent, 

Don't be afraid of the multifamily! Housing hacking can be a powerful tool to help build equity, reduce your monthly expenses and allow you to save more to invest more. 

If you still feel like a multifamily is more than you can handle, consider getting a 2 or 3 br condo and renting out the other bedrooms to roommates to cover your mortgage.

You should look into Union City, NJ. There are many multifamily properties with parking in the area. Union City offers easy access to Manhattan, Hoboken & Jersey City.  And since it isn't as hyped up as other cities in Hudson County, prices are still relatively affordable. 

If you want to stay in Bergen County, southern Bergen County has more options. Lodi & Garfield has some affordable 2 families. Avoid the flood zones though. Hackensack has some 2 families too, but some are in less desirable areas. Essex country has many 2 families, but some towns are sketchy and the taxes tend to be high (not that Bergen County's are cheap by any means).

If you stay on top of what's available, sometimes you can get an affordable 2 family in Dumont.

This time of year, inventory levels are even lower. Can you wait until spring to buy? Will be more options to choose from.

Since you are going to occupy, you could go the FHA 203k route if you are finding properties in poor condition.

Some sections of Englewood aren’t the greatest. I would try to stay close to the downtown if you can.

Northern Bergen County doesn’t have much multi-family stock in general and the continued trend of low inventory isn’t helping.

Some things I don't like about condos. HOA fees tend to go up over time and sometimes there are additional assessments if the complex needs major work done and it's not in the HOA budget.

We are getting towards the peak of the market in my opinion and condos are one of the property types that goes down first and takes longer to recover.

Lastly, if you go the FHA route, not all complexes are FHA approved.