Real Estate Investor · Brooklyn, NY · Member since 2015 · 29 posts · 3 votes
Hey all,
I'm new to investing and have been looking for 2-4 family properties within the NYC area but a lot of the properties are greater than the down payment (60K) I'm willing to put down and don't seem to have good cash flow in rental income. There seems to be slim pickings in Brooklyn or Queens. Does anyone know any areas outside of NYC area (30 mins-1hr) that would have good cash flow?
@Jermaine McIntosh I bought the property for $380k using FHA. Property was built in 2006, so very new for NY. It's a duplex, 2 over 3 with an unfinished basement in the 3 bedroom. Tremendous potential for me to add value to the property just by finishing the basement with walls and carpet. The day I saw that property, I saw 3 other duplexs in the Bronx, the next lowest price was 430. If you're interested in taking a look at some properties in the Bronx, please let me know and I'll pass you along to the sellers I worked with. They are investors and are great to work with.
I find it very interesting that people over skip over the bronx when looking for a place outside or brooklyn, manhattan and queens. The metro north runs through parts of the bronx which makes a commute very easy when you don't feel like taking the subway. I highly recommend taking a look in the bronx before going across the hudson. Again, let me know if you want the information of the investors I worked with.
60K is nothing to sneeze at! Well done in saving that amount. You could try going an FHA route or a 203k route in getting a multifamily in Ocean Hill or Cypress Hill area. I have a realtor contact that is very keen on those areas. He says FHA/203k is not super preferred in NYC but it is still possible.
There are a lot of people talking about New Jersey on BP as well, specifically Union City and West New York, NJ for multifamily.
I'm personally looking at Stamford and Norwalk in Connecticutclose to their respective downtowns and public transit. If you hustle you can probably get a property for around $350k and rent it out to some young professionals.
Jersey City is very hot these days, as is Newark and pretty much all of those surrounding areas. I would look anywhere up and down parts of North Jersey that borders NYC or not too far away.
Brooklyn and even a lot of Queens these days are very over priced. Everyone there seems to be buying on spec assuming large appreciation (unless I'm missing something).
@James Northrup - Thanks for the info, I never heard of the NACA loan, what are specs of that loan?
@Account Closed Thanks man. NYC is quite expensive at the moment especially finding something in Brooklyn. Have you heard anything good about the Bronx as compared to the other boros?
Jermaine McIntosh NACA is a non-profit loan program available to anyone who doesn't already own property. They help guide you through the process of home buying. Check out their website - Naca.com . There are some serious benefits: no down payment, no closing costs, lower interest rates. It's pretty great. The loans are through Citibank or Bank of America.
i like the Bronx a lot. I just purchased a duplex on 167th St. Great opportunity there. NACA looks like a great program as well. I used FHA and was able to close in 30 days. If you need a mortgage broker, let me know.
@james northrup, NACA looks great. I'm looking for the downside but can't find any. Considering the fact that the rates are below market, is there any rationale to consider for not getting a loan through them?
Passaic County offers some good deals, in particular in the cities of Paterson and Passaic.
Oleg,
NACA offers a 1st time homeowner program intended for owner occupants. Ultimately the mortgage is funded through BOA and Citibank. They have an office in Newark.
@Jermaine McIntosh I bought the property for $380k using FHA. Property was built in 2006, so very new for NY. It's a duplex, 2 over 3 with an unfinished basement in the 3 bedroom. Tremendous potential for me to add value to the property just by finishing the basement with walls and carpet. The day I saw that property, I saw 3 other duplexs in the Bronx, the next lowest price was 430. If you're interested in taking a look at some properties in the Bronx, please let me know and I'll pass you along to the sellers I worked with. They are investors and are great to work with.
I find it very interesting that people over skip over the bronx when looking for a place outside or brooklyn, manhattan and queens. The metro north runs through parts of the bronx which makes a commute very easy when you don't feel like taking the subway. I highly recommend taking a look in the bronx before going across the hudson. Again, let me know if you want the information of the investors I worked with.
I believe the prices that you mentioned are what turns people away because that's exactly what was turning me away but your points about the area also make a lot of sense and if the numbers work, why not pay a little more?
Also thanks for sharing that you used the FHA to do it since that's exactly how i want to get started. (Have yet to do my first deal but am wanting to get into it after educating myself for a while)
Though I do have one question if you don't mind answering it. Did you go through the pre-approval process for the FHA before finding a property or did you find a property first?
@Joshua Diaz I definitely got pre-approved for the FHA loan. I have a great mortgage broker, if you want his information, feel free to PM me. But I was more concerned with what my price range was so I knew what house to look for. When you buy a multi family, you can take into consideration part of the income that will be generated from the other unit(s). So I would definitely figure out how much you can spend then go shopping.
Hey Rebecca, if you know anyone that does anything in Morris Park let me know. I can't seem to find a good real estate agent and the properties I'm looking for are tough to find. I'm in the market for a 3-4 family.
@Eddie T. Morris Park. $560k plus a seller assist on the closing costs which brought it up to $585k. FHA loan. House needs work but is in decent shape. Just finishing up getting the top floor rent ready. It should be done by Sunday. Two bedroom plus an office. 1st fl is a 3 bedroom. Ground floor is a 2 bedroom. Basement has 3 storage rooms plus the boiler room/washroom. Detached with a garage. Doing most of the work myself. I will probably be putting about $30k into it after all is said and done. Rent should be $1700/$1800/$1200.
I will be living in the $1800 and my in laws will be paying $1000 for the ground floor. But if I rented out everything plus the garage and backyard access, gross would be around $5k monthly. Net would probably be around $2000 including maintenance and cap ex expense, etc. With the mortgage and PMI included I would probably net around a few hundred a month. My insurance is expensive at about $3k a year. Taxes are around $5600. Heat is about $4-5k. Vacancy is pretty low.