Hey BP community!

I am fairly new to REI and am looking to purchase a 2-4 unit property solely for cash-flow, while staying at my current residence to live. I am currently living in Westchester, New York about 40 min drive from NYC. I've read "The Book on Rental Property Investing" and just finished up "Rich Dad Poor Dad" upon a few other books upon a ton of forum and online research. I have a solid amount of capital on hand, along with a steady fairly well-paying job. I feel as if I am ready to start building my empire and am highly motivated to do so. My only problem is.. where do I start??! Pretty much my entire county is full of super high priced homes with super high taxes and the ones that seem like the numbers could work are in terrible neighborhoods that I wouldn't even want to buy in! I looked into turn-key properties in Indianapolis, Kansas City and some others but I feel like they aren't the smartest/reliable investment.. Then I spoke with someone who told me to look upstate at Albany/Rochchester NY areas for good multifamily cash-flowing properties.. I am willing to invest out of area (even out of state) I just don't have the knowledge or experience to do so safely!! Does anyone either live in Westchester/NYC area that has successful cash-flowing properties either in or out of area? Or anyone has invested in Albany/Rochchester? Any advice or information would be greatly appreciated.. I feel like the more time that goes on the longer I could have had already been cash-flowing on something.. just gotta find my niche. Looking forward to hearing from you guys!!

Hi Nicholas - I'm also interested if there are any opportunities in Westchester. I was looking at properties on Mount Vernon, Yonkers and parts of New Rochelle, but also could not find anything attractive enough.

Are you considering these towns?

-Max

@Account Closed ,

I live in Eastchester, originally from New Rochelle and have been looking for the same thing for about a year and a half, granted not as consistently as I should, but I am working on my process. I recently got my RE license and work with Sotheby's in Larchmont in addition to my construction project management position. I would love to get together and discuss because I find meeting with, talking to and strategizing with like minded people is very powerful. 

At its basics, unless you make some luck and find places that are value add and negotiate amazing terms, it is difficult to find things that cash flow at a reasonable rate in Westchester. That being said, it's not a bad place to park money as there is so much demand to live in our area. I may be starting to do research on some areas in NJ after a few recent conversations, but upstate also has possibilities, I just don't personally see the demand to live up there full time, so it's hard for me to feel secure buying there unless for student housing. 

We can talk about how to run numbers on towns to decide if there are opportunities to cash flow if you'd like.

I hope to talk to you guys soon.

Adam

Thought I would weigh in as I recently bought a quad in New Rochelle that I am owner-occupying to 'house hack'. Opportunity to introduce better tenant management and add some value to the property. Intend to own this for the very long term, but income from the 3 other units are presently covering PITI, owner utilities and capex/maintenance reserves.

This hit the MLS on a Sunday and I put in an offer at the seller's ask that Wednesday after attending the open house. I think the trick is to set up alerts on all the sites, evaluate every multi-family that comes on the market or has sold to know when value pops up. The previous owner was looking to break-even on his investment and was done playing landlord out of state. Probably could have haggled a bit, but controlling the asset beat waiting another year in my opinion. I'm sure there will be many surprises along the way, but I think this has enough built-in margin of safety that I can pull it off.

Would love to network with others in New Rochelle as I will have a good amount of work I will need to put into this place in the coming years. Feel free to contact me!

@Adam Cherko thank you for sharing and congrats on your real estate license. We should definitely meet in person sometime soon, right now I'm just too new to the game so I won't be bringing much to the table.

By the way do you think that all areas of New Rochelle and Mount Vernon have limited options?

@Jack Browning that quad you are talking about sounds like a good plan. What do you think of it as a future investment on its own without owner occupant? Also what part of New Rochelle is that property in? 

@Account Closed Good question, it's the primary reason I bought a quad. None of the duplexes/triplexes would have worked on the numbers on a standalone basis. I bought it on actuals showing it would cash flow once I'm out and placed under property management at 10%. Certainly not by a large amount, but positive. I think the long-term redevelopment plan (admittedly speculative) for New Rochelle and the demand for families needing 3 bedrooms as people get squeezed out of the boroughs (less speculative) should allow for decent appreciation. I'll look to add parking in the backyard as this was the one big minus of the property.

The building is on the south side of the city around the corner from the City Marina, near the corner of Franklin Ave and Pelham Rd. About a 12 minute walk to the train station. Maybe a 6 minute walk to the New Roc entertainment complex and Stop & Shop. For now I'm getting paid to live there and will use the free cash from my job to pay down the PMI (bought with FHA loan at 3.5% down) and do light cosmetic touch ups to flooring/kitchens/baths over the next two years, then look to refi out and move along. Hopefully rinse and repeat.

Not sure I will stay in the area forever, but will be happy to have a performing Westchester asset over the long term. Could even look to tear down and put up a 8-10 unit apartment building on the footprint, but that would be 10+ years from now.

@Account Closed , let's absolutely get together and chat. I grew up here and will be starting to work with a developer in NR before the end of the month! 

What you bring to the table is like minded thinking and the prospects of a great future relationship and team. I'm happy to share my experience with anyone who is looking to build the same future!

@Jack Browning , just let me know when you want to get together, I'd be happy to help you out! 

@Adam Cherko can a tag along with you guys as well, I'm a beginner but looking to learn about real estate. I am from Yonkers New York and would love to work and learn with you guys!

I'm also very young, 14 almost 15 years old in a couple more months. But that doesn't stop me, I am learning and also working for investors currently and I have no signs of slowing down yet, I'm in love with real estate! My main goal right now is to network, learn, and get hands on work with investors. That's why I want to network with local people like you guys. I hope my age doesn't stop you guys from seeing how eager I am, as it does for a lot of people.

Looks like all people in this discussion are ready for NY meet up. Count me in please.

Good day, NR resident here as well, would love to meet and network... count me in as well and please keep me posted on the meet up

@Nicholas Giordano  , @Account Closed I have a deal if you are still interested in cash flowing properties