New York, NY · Member since 2014 · 1 post · 0 votes
Hello All,
If there are any Brooklynites out there, you know that prices have been escalating significantly, and appear to be on a steady march upward. Has anyone had recent success finding good multi-family deals in areas that already have a strong rental market (say a mile radius of Prospect Park, and further north in Bushwick/Williamsburg/Greenpoint)?
I'm starting out and looking for a 2-4 family townhouse under 750k. Anybody done this recently? If so, how much did it cost to get it into renting condition as well?
@John Cohen Is the Ridgewood 2 fam still available? I've been searching for a 2 fam to house hack using an FHA in all the hot Brooklyn areas but the prices are too high for FHA. Starting to look in Ridgewood. Thanks.
Let me start by saying, I have been following the market in the areas you mention and I cannot tell you how astronomical the prices are in those areas. Even with short sales or foreclosures the prices are crazy.
Those neighborhoods are extremely hot right now and the competition is fierce, nothing stays long on the market.
Bushwick is not bad, it is up and coming and with the improvement of the subway system over there, I am sure the prices will go crazy as well.
Find a deal in those neighborhoods is a challenge and you have to move quickly when something comes along.
@Ricardo S. My son is headed to Brooklyn in August to continue medical school clinical rotations at Kings County hospital. Do you have or know of any 'reasonable' rentals in Park Slope, Prospect Heights area? He's looking for a Studio or 1 bed. Appreciate any insights!
Hey @Curtis Bidwell , what you define as "reasonable" will of course depend on your budget. But Prospects Hts and Park Slope are both on the expensive side.
If your son is looking for more affordable rents, he could try Crown Heights. That's right next to Prospect Heights, offers all the same access to the perks of the central library, museum, Prospect Park, but is much cheaper. It's also a fun area for a young person to live, as there are tons of new bars, restaurants and boutiques.
A person on my block in Bed Stuy sold a small two family for 305k cash a few months ago. She inherited the property and I guess used a lousy agent. She was oblivious of the market.
2) I'm sure he has already discovered how astronomical the rent prices are in Brooklyn, but do not be fooled, there are definitely some good deals out there. If he is ever looking again, hit me up. I know a few folks with multiple properties. Also, as a Brooklyn landlord, I can tell you that I'm much more wiling to be flexible if my tenants are willing to pay cash + offer to sign a longer term agreement.
@Account Closed, what's your current status on your multifamily search? Were you able to find something in those areas? Please share your success story if yes!
I'm especially curious to know because … between 2014 and 2015, there has been a major increase in the up-and-coming areas. My husband and I are looking for a multifamily that we would occupy one unit, and then rent out the other … very difficult to find anything under $1m in our area.
@John Cohen Is the Ridgewood 2 fam still available? I've been searching for a 2 fam to house hack using an FHA in all the hot Brooklyn areas but the prices are too high for FHA. Starting to look in Ridgewood. Thanks.
Eric A.
What is your budget?
A 2 family property just sold 2 months ago in the East FlatBush area (Btw Ave D & Albany Ave) for $550k
Both units were 4/2/1 Side by side units. With Finished basements.
About $20k of work was needed on 1 of the units.
The buyer was a small business owner.
@Ricardo S. I hear you. My budget is the full FHA limit, roughly 850k for a 2 fam. I guess I should have prefaced it by saying "Prime" Bk is too expensive for FHA. Obviously I could find a 2 fam under 700k in many parts deeper into Brooklyn that would put my commute to Midtown over an hour, including transfers from buses to trains, etc., plus these neighborhoods would be pretty barren in terms of interesting restaurants/cafes/things to do nearby. East Flatbush is a bit too far away for my taste, but Flatbush/Ditmas Park area (~20 minutes walking to Prospect Park) would be nice. I started looking at Ridgewood because I could ride into midtown on the M train without transfers and it's a very safe neighborhood that has experienced a lot of interesting growth recently.
East Flatbush is not such a great neighborhood. In East New York you can probably get about the same price range, it's also not so good, but it's the next upcoming neighborhood in Brooklyn.
Chaim F. I've heard a couple of people say that about East NY, but I can't for the life of me figure out why it would be. As far as I can tell, it's far away from the city, and it's not next to a particularly nice part of Brooklyn. What is it about ENY that makes you say it's the next big thing?
@Eric A. I own and live in Cypress Hills, which is the northern part of ENY. Cypress Hills is safer than bedstuy, Bushwick, williamsburg, crown heights (source: .http://iquantny.tumblr.com/post/136641945194/your-neighborhoods-crime-rank-insights-from-the). It's got the J train, Broadway junction has the A, L, J. Manhattan is no longer the center of NYC for me, Bushwick and Williamsburg are within 30 minutes or less.
There are some great buildings. Mine is 100+ 2-family row house and needed very little work.
Plus they are rezoning (pending the vote in February).
The price per square foot was around half of Crown Heights, Bushwick, and Ocean Hill.
@EricA. Like some other forum posters said East NY is up and coming because of it's location to Williamsburg and Bushwick, it's proximity to express and local trains going into Manhattan and the prices were prime to do wholesaling, flipping and rehabs. The prices are still high but not as high as Park Slope, Downtown Brooklyn, Bed-Stuy or even Crown Heights at this time. If you look at the map the move for investing in Brooklyn is going east and south east of Bed-Stuy. ENY doesn't look particularly "nice" right now but give it a year or two. I remember when Crown Heights and Bed-Stuy weren't pretty either. Truth be told I've lived in Brooklyn for most of my life and none of the areas are "safe", "pretty" or "nice", they just offer different positive aspects depending on your lifestyle.
There are still good deals to be had in this area. The prices are not .33 on the dollar but more like .60-.75 cents on the dollar. It all depends on what area you are focusing on as far as short sales, investor to investor deals, rehabs or off market deals.
Thanks for the feedback, guys. So are we saying Cypress Hills primarily is where the smart money is, or are there other areas/intersections in ENY that are primed for a leap? I need to do an FHA to start out, which means my family and I have to live in the house. That's why I'm so focused on finding a safe/decent nabe. I also need to commute to midtown everyday. What landmarks/intersections/train stations do people like best in ENY?
@Eric A. ENY is pretty massive, I can only really speak to my area. But I can say to avoid the cypress hills projects (which are not in cypress hills) if you are living there.
Almost anywhere north of atlantic in Cypress Hills is safe. The Norwood ave J train stop is nice (for the area). There are several multi-family homes in the area for sale. Whenever I go to the open houses, they immediately tell me the asking price is negotiable...
Crescent ave is an express stop and I've heard the blocks are safe and quiet.
Cleveland st at has a lot of really large houses and is close to the newly renovated library.
Also check out north of Highland Blvd. the commute would probably be longer, but it has a nice feel up there. I've definitely seen affordable multi family homes in that area.
I can't say of anywhere to avoid in the area, but if you have to live in the building, I would carefully evaluate the neighborhoods of any properties south of Fulton. Both becuase or rezoning and because it's closer to the dangerous parts of ENY.
I think the comments in this thread have been spot on.
There is a ton of office space being developed in Bushwick right now, so that means you'll have more and more renters looking at the commute time to Bushwick, Williamburg, or downtown BK rather than Manhattan.
The east corner of Bed-Stuy, also known as Ocean Hill still has some sales right on the edge of $850K, so that could be worth looking at, but @James Northrup is correct in saying that you'll pay a lot less per square foot in Cypress Hills. I don't know a ton about the rest of East New York, but that's probably a great place to start your search. Go see some properties there and while you're at it poke around the rest of ENY to see how it feels.
All of ENY and Cypress Hills would not be considered the safest neighborhoods around. There are some pockets that are safe. I would spend the extra money if I had it in the budget and look at Bushwick, Ocean Hill, Ridgwood etc. Please call me or contact me to discuss further.
Cypress Hill, statistically, has lower crime rates than Bushwick, Crown Heights, Bed Stuy and Williamsburg (source: http://iquantny.tumblr.com/post/136641945194/your-...). My wife walks home from the subway at night and has never had any problems with feeling unsafe.
I can't speak for the rest of ENY. The crimes rates south of Atlantic are definitely higher.
Cypress Hills is the 21 on the map (but it also includes a more dangerous area, city line). Ocean Hill is the 3rd most dangerous. ENY is 4th.
That's my mini-research project. Hope you all can get some useful info from iQuantNY. He does great work.
Great conversation going on here. Took me a little to read through everything. Everything in NY is expensive, but this conversation definitely highlights other considerable factors to weigh when purchasing in a major city.