Hello Bigger Pockets! Lifelong Queens resident here. I grew up in Richmond Hill, rented in Astoria for a few years and my wife and I bought our first house last year; a multifamily in Jamaica. We have been living in one unit and renting the other, which I recently learned is called house hacking. I am already looking to our next move and interested in hearing what others are doing to build there portfolios in NY real estate; thought the more I read the forums and listen to podcasts I am tempted to venture out of state.

Welcome to BiggerPockets Michael and best of luck investing!

@Michael R.

Welcome to Biggerpockets!

Congrats on the househack!

Househacking is great because as it provides you the opportunity to get into real estate with less cash down(3.5% if you did an FHA).

It also provides you "training wheel's" to becoming a landlord as Brandon Turner would say.

A lot of NY real estate investors are investing in upstate NY, nearby states such as CT, NJ, PA or doing long-distance investing in states across the United States.

Not many NYers are investing in NYC itself because of the higher entry point and a lot of the properties do not provide cash-flow opportunities(however they can provide appreciation...but not many investors like that speculation portion).

Remember from a tax perspective that your househack is part rental property part personal residence.

The personal residence portion of the house is eligible for exclusion of upto $500,000 of gain if you live there for 2 years.
The investment property portion of the house is eligible for like kind exchange upon sale deferring your gain.

Also you are able to deduct direct expenses and indirect expenses related to the investment property on your tax return.

Welcome! Fellow West Indian here from Richmond Hill lol

Hello @Michael R. , welcome to BiggerPockets! Definitely start jumping into the community here and feel free to ask any questions related to Real Estate investing!

Originally posted by @Basit Siddiqi :

@Michael Rahaman

Welcome to Biggerpockets!

Congrats on the househack!

Househacking is great because as it provides you the opportunity to get into real estate with less cash down(3.5% if you did an FHA).

It also provides you "training wheel's" to becoming a landlord as Brandon Turner would say.

A lot of NY real estate investors are investing in upstate NY, nearby states such as CT, NJ, PA or doing long-distance investing in states across the United States.

Not many NYers are investing in NYC itself because of the higher entry point and a lot of the properties do not provide cash-flow opportunities(however they can provide appreciation...but not many investors like that speculation portion).

Remember from a tax perspective that your househack is part rental property part personal residence.

The personal residence portion of the house is eligible for exclusion of upto $500,000 of gain if you live there for 2 years.
The investment property portion of the house is eligible for like kind exchange upon sale deferring your gain.

Also you are able to deduct direct expenses and indirect expenses related to the investment property on your tax return.

Basit, thanks for the insight. I wish I had went the FHA route, I could have been on my third or fourth property by now. I took advice from my family members with old school thinking and actually put down 20%. It is not so bad though, the rental income is covering 65% of the mortgage and remainder is $500 less than what we were paying to rent our apartment in Astoria. The goal is to find another multi to house hack with an FHA and rent my current unit out to start turning profit.

Originally posted by Account Closed:

Welcome! Fellow West Indian here from Richmond Hill lol

 Haha I actually saw some of your posts when I first signed up; trying to organize meetups. Let me know if there are any others.

Welcome to BP @Michael R. ! How far out of state are you looking? I see a lot of interest in northern NJ from NYers but are you considering other states?

What's up!!! Welcome to the family. Congrats on the house hack; curious what part of Jamaica is it in?

Also tomorrow-https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521/topics/527521-tri-state-investors-meetup-queens

@Michael R. Hi Michael, Welcome! I'm also in the Jamaica area which is transforming, so congrats on your purchase. A meet up in area would be a great way to network. We can collaborate on organizing this as I was planning on holding one end of month. Account Closed Hello, fellow West Indian as well, lol. 

@Odie Ayaga Hi Odie, what are your thoughts/advice on northern NJ for us NYers? 

Hopefully this doesn't come off the wrong way, but my first thought is that I probably see that question on these forums literally every other day. I just read one yesterday where someone's advice to the poster was to take a look at Philly. Personally I'm not in the north NJ market, I don't know much about it other than evidently EVERYONE is trying to invest there. What that means for you is you're going to have a lot of competition. You're either likely going to have to pay more than you should or you'll have to hustle to find properties. If you're not willing or able to do one or the other it might be a tough market for you to crack.

Congrats @Michael R. . I have sent you a message. Will like to know more about your experience and if you could share agents/brokers who were able to help you out.

Welcome to the BP Community! Sounds like you are getting off to a great start! I typically like to invest close to home in a market that I am familiar with, but have heard from many investors that are investing across the country and doing well. My suggestion would be to really analyze any markets that you are considering, and make sure to buy in good areas. It is easy to get pulled in because of low prices to a bad area. 

I spoke to a good friend of mine who has friends and family in Buffalo. He said that he has heard that is a good market, prices are low, but a lot of revitalization going on. In case you are looking to stay in state but outside of NYC. 

Good Luck! Aaron