How to Analyze a House Hack Deal - North East, NJ

[Andrew Combine]

I’m currently renting $2,700/month and looking at purchasing a multi-family home to house hack/live in and rent the other units out in Northeast New Jersey. I’m struggling to figure out how I analyze the deal while living in the property, especially in such a high value area.

I'm starting to believe cash flow and cash on cash return is less important in such areas and NOI and cap rate might reflect better on how good/bad the investment may be. What do you look for in a deal when house hacking in a high value areas?