Worth jumping in?
Hi all,
I am a novice to the real estate investing scene, although I have a few bits of knowledge that I've collected from research over the years. I've never really been in a position to put it into practice, but circumstances have changed and I'm trying to decide if now is the right time.
I'm considering investing with a long-term buy and hold strategy for cash flow properties. I live in Manhattan, so clearly I'd need to look outside the city for properties. That's a bit tricky because like many Manhattan dwellers I don't have a car. I could zipcar or get a rental when I need to, but that's not terribly cheap if I go more than an hour or two out of the city. I also have ties to the west coast and I'm not sure how many more years I'll spend in New York before returning.
I'm also very time constrained. My job requires anywhere from 60 - 120 hours per week, with about 80 being average. The hours are unpredictable, and weekends are not exempt.
What I do have is a fair bit of capital that I could invest - I'd feel comfortable putting $30-40k cash to work right now, and over the next year I could add another $50-75k if things worked out and I saw a good return.
So this brings me to my question. Is it worthwhile for me to push forward down this path, or am I better off sticking to more traditional investments (stock/bond/etc.) until I'm in a position to put more time into investing? I do have vacation time that I could potentially use to scout out properties / work on closing a deal, but on-going maintenance would be tough. Another potential option would be to partner with a friend on the west coast.
Thank you for your thoughts!