Phillipsburg NJ Multifamily

[Matthew Posteraro]

Hello! I am a new investor and have been saving up for a down payment on my first investment property for me and my wife. We have narrowed it down to the Phillipsburg, NJ and Easton, PA area. We are planning to buy and house hack in our first house, then rinse and repeat this process for the next 5-10 years. While Phillipsburg is our primary desired location, we have run into the issue of the town not allowing new multi-family houses to be built as well as not allowing ADUs to be built.

The numbers for us do not work in this market if the property is not at least a duplex and/or able to easily be converted into an ADU (which we have seen on two occasions while touring houses) to give us the ability to create a 1bedroom 1bath or studio apartment. What would be the advice for this situation? Would it be wise to not waste our time even looking in that market anymore? Are there other options, or possibly wording things differently to the zoning board in the town differently to give myself a better chance of being approved for permits regarding an ADU?

As always, any helpful tips or guidance is very appreciated. Thank you!!

[Clayton Silva]

Quote from @Matthew Posteraro:

Quote from @Clayton Silva:

While some municipalities may change their stance over time, I would start elsewhere and keep a close eye on the market to see if things get easier in your favor.  If the market doesn't make sense, better to just move on rather than try to change the market.

After speaking with a gentleman working for the town in the zoning department it seems like that could be an outside possibility that they do change those laws, but that could be a long way down the road or never. This option seems very risky and not the best way to start off our REI careers.

The reason we prefer Phillipsburg or Easton is due to NJ being a compact state for nurses and it allows us to travel much more efficiently to other states as nurses. However, PA is not a compact state and thus makes it much harder to travel to other states as a nurse. 

 Agreed, make a move now, build equity and pay down the mortgage and then leverage it later to buy one in the area you desire.