Small Landlords for Rent Stabilized Multi-Family (Queens, NY)
Most Popular Reply
Abel CurielBusiness Member
Real Estate Agent · Queens, NY · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votesQuote from @Dennis D.:
Thanks, Lydia — this is super helpful. I have a question about the tenant review part you mentioned.
Is it actually possible to find out things like a tenant’s age, income level, or DHCR registration history before making an offer? Or do you usually only get that info once you’re in contract or during due diligence?
Hello Dennis,
Agreed with @Lydia Winn ! These are long-term plays. Also, all deals are different and can have unique selling points.
For example, we have a client selling four 6-unit rent stabilized buildings in Ridgewood Queens.
The NOI hasn't been the most attractive over the last 2-3 years. However, this is for a good reason. The portfolio has been family-owned and operated for decades, and they've spent the last 2+ years gearing up to sell it by investing in CapEx items like the roofs, boilers, and more.
Now that these improvements have been made, the expenses on the buildings will go down to about 35-40% compared to 50-60% over recent years.
Regarding finding out about tenants' age, income level, registration history, etc., many property owners will be willing to share information after a serious offer has been presented.
The majority of this information can be obtained before a fully-executed sales contract, while some information will be released once the deal is officially in contract. Timing depends on the sellers and attorneys.
Lastly, I'd request detailed financial information on any buildings you're interested in. NY rent-stabilized buildings that I've recently looked at have grossly underreported their expenses. I've found buildings with 40-45% (actual) annual expenses when their original marketed/reported expenses were around 25-30%.
All the best!
Abel
REbuild Team - eXp Realty5234 Reviews
7 Replies
- Member since 2025 · 91 posts · 55 votes11mo
Hi Dennis,
There are a lot of broad generalizations about “6-family rent stabilized = bad investment,” but the reality is more nuanced. Rent stabilization is not one uniform situation—there are multiple layers that materially change the economics and the exit strategy.
For example, one of the biggest distinctions is tenant profile. If a tenant is over a certain age and paying a high percentage of income toward rent, you may not be able to recover that unit even for owner-occupancy. In contrast, units occupied by younger, higher-income tenants who are already paying near-market legal rents have a different trajectory. Same building type, completely different expected outcomes.
The political environment matters too. The new mayor signaling a potential rent freeze is pushing a lot of small owners to sell. That is creating a buyer’s market—but only for buyers who underwrite like they’re buying a bond, not a value-add play. The days of banking on vacancy-based resets or buyouts as your core strategy are gone.
The deals that still “pencil” tend to look like this:
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You underwrite long-term stable yield, not big upside.
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You assume minimal rent increases (or none).
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You price in legal/operational friction.
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You negotiate hard because sellers are fatigued and there are fewer buyers willing to take these on now.
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You diligence each tenant’s regulatory profile—not just lease terms, but age, household makeup, income certifications, and historical registrations.
If you go into this expecting returns of 10%+, it will look terrible. If you go into it expecting something closer to bond-like yield with tax benefits and long-term optionality, there are deals that make sense.
The key is that not all rent-stabilized buildings are the same, and the spread in outcomes is wide. The people who struggle are the ones who assume they’ll “figure out” the tenants later. The people who do fine are the ones who treat tenant review and DHCR history as the underwriting.
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- New York City · Member since 2023 · 11 posts · 7 votes11mo
Thanks, Lydia — this is super helpful. I have a question about the tenant review part you mentioned.
Is it actually possible to find out things like a tenant’s age, income level, or DHCR registration history before making an offer? Or do you usually only get that info once you’re in contract or during due diligence?
- 11moAbel CurielBusiness MemberReal Estate Agent · Queens, NY · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
Quote from @Dennis D.:
Thanks, Lydia — this is super helpful. I have a question about the tenant review part you mentioned.
Is it actually possible to find out things like a tenant’s age, income level, or DHCR registration history before making an offer? Or do you usually only get that info once you’re in contract or during due diligence?
Hello Dennis,
Agreed with @Lydia Winn ! These are long-term plays. Also, all deals are different and can have unique selling points.
For example, we have a client selling four 6-unit rent stabilized buildings in Ridgewood Queens.
The NOI hasn't been the most attractive over the last 2-3 years. However, this is for a good reason. The portfolio has been family-owned and operated for decades, and they've spent the last 2+ years gearing up to sell it by investing in CapEx items like the roofs, boilers, and more.
Now that these improvements have been made, the expenses on the buildings will go down to about 35-40% compared to 50-60% over recent years.Regarding finding out about tenants' age, income level, registration history, etc., many property owners will be willing to share information after a serious offer has been presented.
The majority of this information can be obtained before a fully-executed sales contract, while some information will be released once the deal is officially in contract. Timing depends on the sellers and attorneys.
Lastly, I'd request detailed financial information on any buildings you're interested in. NY rent-stabilized buildings that I've recently looked at have grossly underreported their expenses. I've found buildings with 40-45% (actual) annual expenses when their original marketed/reported expenses were around 25-30%.
All the best!
Abel
REbuild Team - eXp Realty5234 Reviews - New York City · Member since 2023 · 11 posts · 7 votes11mo
Quote from @Abel Curiel:
Quote from @Dennis D.:
Thanks, Lydia — this is super helpful. I have a question about the tenant review part you mentioned.
Is it actually possible to find out things like a tenant’s age, income level, or DHCR registration history before making an offer? Or do you usually only get that info once you’re in contract or during due diligence?
Hello Dennis,
Agreed with @Lydia Winn ! These are long-term plays. Also, all deals are different and can have unique selling points.
For example, we have a client selling four 6-unit rent stabilized buildings in Ridgewood Queens.
The NOI hasn't been the most attractive over the last 2-3 years. However, this is for a good reason. The portfolio has been family-owned and operated for decades, and they've spent the last 2+ years gearing up to sell it by investing in CapEx items like the roofs, boilers, and more.
Now that these improvements have been made, the expenses on the buildings will go down to about 35-40% compared to 50-60% over recent years.Regarding finding out about tenants' age, income level, registration history, etc., many property owners will be willing to share information after a serious offer has been presented.
The majority of this information can be obtained before a fully-executed sales contract, while some information will be released once the deal is officially in contract. Timing depends on the sellers and attorneys.
Lastly, I'd request detailed financial information on any buildings you're interested in. NY rent-stabilized buildings that I've recently looked at have grossly underreported their expenses. I've found buildings with 40-45% (actual) annual expenses when their original marketed/reported expenses were around 25-30%.
All the best!
Abel
Thanks, Abel! Good point about the detailed financial numbers.
How much trust do place in some of the numbers the listing agent provides? Are there other ways to verify the numbers?
- Member since 2025 · 91 posts · 55 votes10moThey should provide scans of all rent checks or money orders six months prior to close for each tenant. Those will have the tenants full names on them. From there you can cross check their identity on services like Spokeo. If they’ve been in the units as long as most tenants are in rent stabilized units, they’ll be visible there with their age.
Quote from @Dennis D.:
Quote from @Abel Curiel:
Quote from @Dennis D.:
Thanks, Lydia — this is super helpful. I have a question about the tenant review part you mentioned.
Is it actually possible to find out things like a tenant’s age, income level, or DHCR registration history before making an offer? Or do you usually only get that info once you’re in contract or during due diligence?
Hello Dennis,
Agreed with @Lydia Winn ! These are long-term plays. Also, all deals are different and can have unique selling points.
For example, we have a client selling four 6-unit rent stabilized buildings in Ridgewood Queens.
The NOI hasn't been the most attractive over the last 2-3 years. However, this is for a good reason. The portfolio has been family-owned and operated for decades, and they've spent the last 2+ years gearing up to sell it by investing in CapEx items like the roofs, boilers, and more.
Now that these improvements have been made, the expenses on the buildings will go down to about 35-40% compared to 50-60% over recent years.Regarding finding out about tenants' age, income level, registration history, etc., many property owners will be willing to share information after a serious offer has been presented.
The majority of this information can be obtained before a fully-executed sales contract, while some information will be released once the deal is officially in contract. Timing depends on the sellers and attorneys.
Lastly, I'd request detailed financial information on any buildings you're interested in. NY rent-stabilized buildings that I've recently looked at have grossly underreported their expenses. I've found buildings with 40-45% (actual) annual expenses when their original marketed/reported expenses were around 25-30%.
All the best!
Abel
Thanks, Abel! Good point about the detailed financial numbers.
How much trust do place in some of the numbers the listing agent provides? Are there other ways to verify the numbers?
- Member since 2025 · 91 posts · 55 votes11mo
I'd also like to double down on a massive opportunity I've seen in this space: the owner-occupant arbitrage.
Because rent-stabilized properties are primarily valued based on their actual income (which is capped), and not on their potential market income, they can trade at a significant discount to comparable condo or market-rate residential properties.
For buyers who are looking for a forever home, the ability to purchase a multi-unit building and owner-occupy a unit can be bargain. For example:
- Purchase a rent-stabilized building in Ridgewood with a three-bedroom unit.
- Owner-occupy that three-bedroom unit.
- Acquire the entire property for roughly $940k.
- At the time, a three-bedroom condo in the same neighborhood was selling for $1.04 million. Plus HOAs. With MUCH higher property taxes.
In a situation like this, you effectively get a massive discount on a primary residence simply by buying the entire rent-stabilized property and operating the remaining units as a landlord. This strategy turns a challenging asset class into a good scenario for a buyer whose primary goal is a low-cost, long-term home.
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