All Forum Posts by: JooYung Choi

Hey MJ, 

NJ is a fantastic place to house hack. With the right location, you can expand your tenant pool tremendously to target NY commuters as well as NJ professionals. Currently on my 2nd house hack, looking for my 3rd. With MTRs, I've been cash flowing on my house hacks, getting paid to live in my own home! Any particular items you are needing help with? I'd love to help out in your house hacking journey. 

Hey Michael,

You should look into MTRs or STRs instead. Renting out individual rooms sound like way more work/management for not much more profits.

MTRs are alive and strong in hudson county. Yes the regulations are strict but demand is definitely there. 

However, at your price range, and with an FHA loan, it will be nearly impossible to break even with a duplex. Also I am assuming that you have enough space on your DTI to afford a huge PITI. On the basis of conventional vs FHA, slight differences. FHA is a harder offer to get accepted, but not impossible with the right agent. I would recommend conventional however, since you are paying a MIP with FHA loans. If you do the maths, it usually is better financially to do a 5% conventional than an FHA.

I would recommend JC > Weehawken since you can do STRs if you owner occupy. You can fill the gaps between your MTR clients and really optimize your profits!

The real game in JC is short term rentals / mid term rentals. If you can purchase a mfh and str the other units, you'd be sitting real pretty with cash flow. Of course lots of work goes on behind the scenes, but well worth the squeeze. 

I see fantastic numbers for MTRs as well. Being close to the path or having really cool amenities (ie: roof top deck, spacious backyard, dedicated parking) can yield some strong rents as well. Really depends on your strategy!

Hey Cory,

The best way to get into real estate is by house hacking, sooner rather than later! I'd say the biggest benefit in house hacking in Jersey City is that you'd be able to unlock short term rentals for your other units. Best of luck to you!

Hey Brian!

Amazing that you guys are both all in to securing your financial freedom. I was also in your shoes not too long ago. My girlfriend, now fiancée, and I also bought our first home together to househack. Fast forward a couple years and we now have been steadily adding to our portfolio of SFH, MFH - STRs and MTRs. All the money you would save from reducing your housing expenses really stack up and gets you to your next property faster.
As far as renting vs buying a home goes, buying the home is the clear investment decision, no point in timing the market. I would say renting so you guys have a chance to live together and be sure about each other before making a big purchase together.

best of luck to yall!

To utilize fha or low down payment loans, you would have to move into the property. Otherwise you are looking at 20% conventional. Being physically present to manage the rehab and tenants is helpful but not necessary. As long as you have a great team around you, you should be able to that from wherever you are in the world. 

Since you have 60-100K, most likely you will need to househack. You would get to save money on the down payment that you could use towards renovations. Think of it as a 1 year project, so once your property is stable, you can rent out the unit you are living in and go back to the Bronx. Not a bad trade for a triplex / quad in Elizabeth!

If you can pay for purchase / renovations with cash, you'd be saving a lot on holding costs. But if the deal's good enough, everyone will make money. Leverage in real estate is the fastest way to scale but it comes at a cost. There are obvious risks involved with hard money but as long as you do proper due diligence, there is money to be made. Just be conservative when you work up the property! (ie: higher contingency budget, overestimate the rehab, underestimate the ARV, longer holding time, etc)

How long will it take to save up for the purchase? There's opportunity cost involved as well. 

Not sure if HELOC would be the best move here. You are just moving your bad debt to the HELOC, which has second lien position on your home. Your rent numbers won't work great either with this on top of your PITI.

What's your interest rate? You could opt for a cash out refi so at least it's a clean transaction. Then you could keep it as a rental because your PITI will be much more manageable.

If you're not interested in keeping it, just sell it! It'll be tax free anyway. 

A 2 bed 1 bath would be a great MTR. I have found that 2 bedrooms often have high occupancy and have a great price point in my market. The best renovation you can do would be to add another full bath.