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Originally Posted by Fountainrunner
Hello all,
I'm a first-time home buyer and will be looking at small multifamily properties in Central NJ. I will be utilizing owner-occupied financing on the property. I'll be focusing my search on 4-unit properties where I'll have no more than 3 tenants that I will have to manage. Knowing myself, a 3-unit would probably be best. Overseeing 2 tenants seems more manageable than 3, but I understand the higher number of units would cover me in cases of one or more vacancies. What do I need to be mindful of during my property search? I've been reading up on RE investment books and reading online forums so far. I'd love to hear some feedback from landlords and others in the NYC metro area particularly.
My area has a major university, is surrounded by major hospitals, good schools, and is only 30 to 45 minutes from NYC, depending on your mode of transportation. My biggest concern is how the future pans out with the pandemic, housing market, and what that means for rentals next year. Rentals don't typically stay vacant for long around here - even at this moment. My current landlord never has a vacancy for longer than a month, which seems to be standard for the area. Average rents for a 1BR in my neighborhood are around 1200, and 2 or more bedrooms can go for 2K+. I'm just very nervous hearing that some landlords are ditching their rental properties at the same time that I'm starting my journey to becoming one. FYI, I plan on staying in the property long term. I believe the term is called house hacking. Tips? Thanks.
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You got the right idea. I house hacked for 10+ years. Living next to tenants is a great way to keep an eye on how they treat your property; and tenants are much less likely to do dumb things when the landlord is living in the building.
If you hire a gardener to maintain your single family home, do you get to expense it in your taxes? No. What about if you do the same in the multi-unit you are living in? Yes! -- at least for the tenant's portion. I get to deduct so much expenses for things that also benefits me - if you are spending it on common areas you can expense a portion of it.
I don't understand why people are freaking out over the pandemic. Are people not going to need places to live after Covid? Are universities going to Zoom forever? Is NYC going to become a desert? No, no, and no. Real estate is a long term investment. Don't let an event that will likely end next year discourage you from making wise investment decision.
With that said, numbers and location is the most important things in house hacking. My rule is the investment must be cash flow positive, attracts quality tenants, and has room for appreciation. Run the numbers using
cap rate and
cash-on-cash returns. Don't underestimate maintenance, insurance, property tax, vacancy etc. Don't buy anything without running the numbers in different scenarios.
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