Tverdov Housing is a business that has grown from scratch to a business that now manages over $30,000,000 worth of residential rentals. Given our growth, we have become familiar with which areas in New Jersey are investor-friendly and which areas are not. We often get emails, DMs, or phone calls asking, “where are the best places to buy a house in Middlesex County?” and “what are the best neighborhoods in New Jersey?” Well, now you can use this as a guide and when you are ready to buy, sell or hire a property manager for your residential rental property, you can reach out to us to help you make the transition smooth!
We are going to divide Middlesex County into two sections and review the towns in each section that are true “investment property towns”. The county is divided by the Raritan River. We’ll call the northside of the river North Middlesex County, and the southside of the river South Middlesex County.
North Middlesex County
North Middlesex County offers many options to purchase investment property. The proximity to the Northeast Corridor train line, as well as Rt 287, Rt 1, the Garden State Parkway and the Turnpike, make this area a very desirable place to live.
Below are some of the best places to buy a house in NJ, as well as our favorite towns for property management and residential real estate investment properties in Northern Middlesex County:
CARTERET
Like many towns in Middlesex county, the proximity to New York City is a big plus to property values. Carteret has seen a strong uptick in redevelopment the last several years, but the majority of the town is zoned for single-family homes with a peppering of multi-family zones near the industrial area of town. You can often find a decent amount of inventory available, and the combination of blue-collar working class and NYC commuters trying to save a few bucks makes this an attractive town for real estate investors. Single-family and multi-family homes are the target market in Carteret, NJ.
EDISON
Edison has a huge NYC commuter population in town, as well as a strong Asian population, with southern Edison businesses in particular catering to Asian-Americans. Edison is completely dominated by single-family homes, with a small area of homes zoned for multi-family on the south side of Edison near Highland Park. Don’t be discouraged by the lack of multi-families, as Edison has a very strong median household income. Single-family homes are the target market in Edison, NJ.
HIGHLAND PARK
One of the hidden gems and best places to buy a house in Middlesex County is Highland Park. The town is small, but the rental market is one of the strongest in the county. Highland Park has a lot of multi-family housing options, with a B level renter group living in most of the units (yuppies, grad students, and working families). The lack of a train station hurts the town a bit, but it has a very walkable downtown and it’s a very pleasant place in Middlesex county to purchase and manage rental property. It’s one of our favorite towns to manage rental properties in Middlesex county.
PERTH AMBOY
Perth Amboy is a very strong rental town where inventory is constantly presented to investors, whether it’s on the MLS or via Sheriff Sale. In this town, you may see two or three properties on one parcel of land sometimes. Lots of mixed-use buildings are available compared to other areas as well as multi-family property. You get a little bit of everything in Perth Amboy, and that includes your grade of renter. The median income is lower than other towns in Middlesex, and the grade of renter is usually a C- (people without bank accounts, non-English speaking, etc.); however, it is a very strong rental market that presents a multitude of investment property options. It too is one of our favorite towns to manage property in Central New Jersey.
PISCATAWAY
Piscataway is a town with a huge population that offers a few options to real estate investors. The town has Rt 287 running right through it and is anchored by several major businesses, including parts of Rutgers University and Rutgers off-campus housing, so the median income is stable and the tenant pool strong. The multi-family housing is limited to areas that border Plainfield, but we find this to be a solid rental town of mainly single-family housing options, with a strong median household income to rely on.
OTHER TOWNS IN MIDDLESEX COUNTY, NJ
Middlesex, South Plainfield, and Dunellen have pockets of rental properties but those towns (along with Metuchen) don’t thrive on rentals. Woodbridge has multi-family zones, but we usually see people buying a townhouse or condo and trying to rent that and struggling with it because it was never intended as a rental property. You can make money in those areas, but it’s a lot tougher because the towns themselves don’t encourage rental property zones, which why we like to focus our time on the abovementioned towns.
Tverdov Housing is a Central New Jersey real estate company specializing in property management, brokerage, and construction project management for residential properties in Union, Somerset, and Middlesex County. For more information on property management and property maintenance services in New Jersey, contact our professionals today.
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