White Plains, NY · Member since 2014 · 16 posts · 5 votes
I've read the success stories about so and so buying a house for $100,000 and renting out 3 units to complete the perfect cash flow of $400-600 per month.
However, how would one do such a thing with a similar scenario in Westchester NY with a house that is going for 400k+? The numbers don't seem to add up. It always seems like your mortgage and expenses will leave you at a negative.
Ideally I would love to have a 2-3 unit house I can live in, but I don't see the numbers adding up to a positive cashflow.
Rental Property Investor · Newark, DE · Member since 2013 · 45 posts · 11 votes
12y
We've been looking in Westchester a bit as well. It's just too close to Manhattan to find any reasonably priced property. Factor in you are looking minimum $10-$15,000 + in yearly taxes it doesn't make a whole lot of sense from a cash flow stand point. You might get lucky and find a FSBO that you can nab for a really good price but you still have to consider the taxes. No way really to get around that from what we've seen anyway.
Multi-family Investor · Dobbs Ferry, NY · Member since 2014 · 21 posts · 6 votes
12y
@Chris Rey I am in Westchester as well (Dobbs Ferry) and completely agree that this area has significant cost barrier to enter. Demand for housing is high anywhere within 90 min commute, which drives down CAP and thus high prices on relatively low NOI.
In general, this area is very competitive. We elected to go outside the county for now.
White Plains, NY · Member since 2014 · 16 posts · 5 votes
12y
I'm debating if I should consider leaving westchester and starting over in a different county as well. Its too hard to try and get the numbers to match up.
I would love to have cashflow of $600 per month but not have to finance a $900k house to do so.
Rental Property Investor · Newark, DE · Member since 2013 · 45 posts · 11 votes
12y
You might want to consider Rockland County and I know @darrensager is a great resource especially for homes in NJ if you want to expand that much. I'm sure he's happy to help answer some questions.
Nyack, NY · Member since 2013 · 27 posts · 6 votes
11y
We are in Rockland County just across the bridge and opted for a 3 family for the high costs in the area as opposed of a 2 family, but are not able to make money on the unit for now.. one apt covers the taxes in rent, the other unit covers the rest of the mortgage and we live in the third apartment. So for now break even and building equity over 30 years plus living for free will have to do, but in this area rents will just keep increasing so eventually there'll be cash flow.
Hartsdale, NY · Member since 2015 · 874 posts · 218 votes
11y
I think if you are living in the 3rd apartment you should be counting your fair market rent. If its a $1,000 a month apartment you are sitting it doesn't that mean you have $12,000 more income from that house?
Investor · Palos Park, IL · Member since 2015 · 4 posts · 0 votes
11y
Obviously, If you are rent out all three units, then it makes perfect sense it account for the rent or rent potential of all three units. Its a measure of good vs bad investment.
However, in the case of the author where he lives in 1 of the units, I'm not sure sure you should consider counting the 12K income. If you live there or anywhere for that matter, it costs you $12K in rent anyway... In my mind, its a wash (the rent you pay or lack of income due to living there).
Investor · Palos Park, IL · Member since 2015 · 4 posts · 0 votes
11y
I have neglected to mention that I have also been looking in the lower Westchester area for Buy/hold investment properties, and as many have suggested, the numbers here are simply not adding up to show a profit without significant investment (large down payment) or an all cash offer.
I'm starting to feel like I am doing things wrong here, but then I look back and review my numbers and they are accurate. I remind myself, its not me, it's Westchester's inflated prices.
Its challenging to get positive cash flow deals in lower Westchester.... but I guess I continue to search and hope to get lucky one day.
Yonkers, NY · Member since 2015 · 19 posts · 5 votes
11y
I'm in the same situation as the original poster. Even after running the numbers as all the units rented out, I'm having trouble cash flowing. We do have price appreciation on our side however.. If I can put up with paying out of pocket same as a renter, might be able to make some money on appreciation.