Credit score- the higher the best. 760-780+ generally gets best pricing for investment property loans with most lenders.

Best of Luck!

But before that, I want to know what is a good way to determine my purchasing power.

Julie,Facebook/Social Media is your best option other than posting it on a MTR for rent or sale.

Verifying last 2 years of rental history and income extremely important to find the “best of the worst”.Make sure you understand the Class of properties you are looking at and the corresponding results to expect.The City of Detroit has 183 Neighborhoods we’ve analyzed.PM us if you’d like to discuss this logical approach in greater detail!

I don't know what is best to support the area that I love so much.

@Shawn Mcenteer is right on as a lot of Northern NJ value is tied to the proximity to NYC.Buying a multi in NJ as a first-timer is way harder than most think.

Here’s what a 'co-ownership consultation' would look like:- We review an active listing of your choice to:- Build a cost-of-co-ownership model for the property which includes:- Individual ownership and ongoing cost assumptions- Modeling potential rental income for short-term rentals- Modeling financial outcomes from various exit scenarios- Tax benefits and considerations of shared homeownership- Pros/cons of different ownership structures (joint tenancy, LLC, tenants in common, etc)- Talk through the legal agreements (I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice but I do have extensive knowledge about TIC and other co-ownership agreements)- Briefly discuss some of the ways AI is making the work that goes into successfully managing a shared home easierIf you're interested, here's what I'm asking:- You’re a U.S. citizen or permanent resident interested in co-owning in the U.S.- You choose a property that’s actively listed and something you'd realistically be interested in co-owningShoot me a message if you're interested and open to 30ish minute chat.Thanks!

Like @Laura Chotkevys said, you can raise money, creatively finance from the seller, partner, get lower money down loans (SBA - although this is harder for the first deal sometimes), get a private note... lots of ways to go about this with low money down if you put in the work and know how much you need. 

Wishing you the best of success!