Hey everyone, I recently wrote a post about investing in the Fort Drum area/ Watertown NY. Still researching, but one of the problems my boyfriend (currently deployed but stationed at Ft. Drum) and I are running into is with our agent - he is very down on the Watertown area with rental laws, the tenant pool (aside from military) and a lot of the properties we have been looking at (condition wise).
We don’t quite have the time/resources to do a total renovation, but we were always hoping to house hack in a decent multifamily that we could do some cosmetic upgrades on and could hold and sell down the line after he moves from Ft. Drum.
Anyone have any experience with buy and hold multi family properties in Watertown NY (or even the surrounding areas of Clayton NY and Thousand Islands)? Is this a market you’d recommend? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
@Account Closed, I own several properties in Watertown and I like the market. The military population is great,but I don't have a single military member in any of my eight units there right now. PM me and I can provide more specifics.
@Account Closed, I own several properties in Watertown and I like the market. The military population is great,but I don't have a single military member in any of my eight units there right now. PM me and I can provide more specifics.
@Kevin Hunter@Michael Ablan thank you both! Since writing that first post, we bought a four plex in Watertown as a house hack where my boyfriend is currently living. Right now we are still in the process of removing two of the other three tenants (I think we finally made it, aside from a junk car left on the property) and working towards getting the place fully rented. We're hoping to appeal to the military population, but as you said Kevin, no luck so far.
Proximity from base, condition of the units and your pet policy is pretty important. I also tend to rent more 2+ bedrooms to the military than my smaller units.
Are you still in the Watertown NY area at all? I love the area for appreciation rates of buy and hold. While this is true that NY State is not landlord friendly/2nd behind CA in its laws as being the most tenant friendly, I find it a bit strange agents will often try to talk someone out of property. I agree with you about attempting to rent to military. Fort Drum has its own housing site and I have had some success on there. Throwing this out there as well for all investors in the area to connect and meet up. https://www.meetup.com/north-country-real-estate-investing-c...