Buying First Property Plan

[Hoai T.]

Hi everyone ,

I am new here at Bigger Pocket. Since early October, I have read articles on BP and collect as much knowledge as I could to purchase my first property. The goal is to buy a duplex or triplex to house hack some time soon. 

Here is my situation:

1. Last hard credit pull: September 2017

2. Credit score: around 750 per Credit Karma

3. Cash saved for down payments: $50K. I have been moving this money around a lot among different bank checking/saving accounts for sign up bonus. Currently the money is sitting at 3 different banks: Chase, PNC and Discover. Discover I just opened in 10/31/2017.

4. Job: full time - in $80K range salary.

5. Market: New Jersey- preferably North New Jersey. 

6. Current housing situation: Rent - contract expires August 2018.

I'm aiming to buy the first property in April or May 2018 to avoid signing another year renting contract with my landlord.  I know the looking and buying property process can takes awhile, so I should  start the process soon. However, some people had told me that I should wait at least 6 months since my last hard credit pull and have my down payment stays in each banks at least 3 months before going to banks to get a pre-qualify. 

Any advice on the time frame of when I should start actively looking for a property? also, any advice on where I should start or about the NJ market or anything at all related to real estate, I really appreciate it. I am here to learn, so any advice at all, I'll take like gold.

Thank you so much! 

Hoai