Real Estate Advice

[Timothy Hilario]

Hi everyone,

I bought my first studio condo in Astoria, NYC, last December. I’m originally from Long Island but have always wanted to buy in NYC and potentially settle here long-term. My plan was to keep the condo as my residence, but after a year, refinance to fund a down payment on a multi-family property, either out of state or in the surrounding NY area. I plan to rinse and repeat every year slowly building my portfolio this way. And I will stay in my condo until I can afford to buy a bigger place.

However, with high interest rates, I’m reconsidering. I’m now thinking about waiting to refinance and instead moving to a rent-stabilized apartment (I work in midtown NYC) while doing mid-term rentals on my condo. I'll keep it fully furnished, so I can potentially charge more, especially since it’s also near a major hospital in Astoria and close to LGA.

Do you think this plan is feasible? Or should I stick to my original strategy and maybe even start looking to refinance soon? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[Abel Curiel]

Hello @Timothy Hilario,

I think there are benefits to both strategies.

If you move out of your apartment and rent it as a mid-term rental, you could see decent cashflow without pulling equity out of the unit. You'll likely also reduce your cost of living by moving to a stabilized apartment.

Depending on the cashflow and debt paydown, you can use this strategy until you've built enough equity to reinvest.

On the other hand, getting into a multi-family after refinancing will also help you build substantial equity to rinse and repeat in the coming years. Nassau County 2-4 family properties outperformed all other New York City Metro Counties in 2024. 

The average sale price for small multifamily properties in Nassau increased by 13.9% from '23 to '24. Suffolk also did great; average 2-4 unit values rose 7.3%. With this type of YOY growth, you can re-invest you equity into upstate or OOS markets (i.e. Albany, Syracuse, Utica, OH, PA, etc.) for cashflow.

The challenge in these markets is that demand is through the roof, and many properties either sell at the asking price or above the asking price (Suffolk's sale price average was 1.5% ABOVE the asking price).

If I were in your shoes, I'd explore local and remote multi-family options before considering the mid-term rental route.

All the best!

Abel