New Investor from Long Island/Greater NYC Area

[Max Abend]

TL/DR Version:  How do full-time employees in the greater NYC area invest (especially locally)?  Or if not local, how do you go about investing out of the area?

Hello BP!  I am a complete newbie living in Nassau County (Long Island) in New York, and I work in NYC.  I just wanted to introduce myself since I am in the networking and self-education phase of my RE journey.  

I come by way of a strong interest in personal finance.  I started listening to podcasts in that space about 1 to 1.5 years ago because I have always been interested in financial independence (not necessarily retire-early).  I was following the FIRE mantra of maxing out retirement accounts via passive index investing and have been investing additionally in a taxable brokerage account, but heard a podcast interviewing the founders of Roofstock and became intrigued.  I then found my way here to BP and started listening to the BP podcast.  I have also been through a few RE books.  I am convinced that real estate investing with an appropriate amount of leverage provides better risk-adjusted returns than simple equity index investing, so I'm getting ready to get to the next level.

Knowing my temperament and given my professional background and skills, I lean towards buy and hold, performing notes, non-performing notes, and tax liens/deeds.  I have a very good full-time job as an attorney at an alternative investment firm and plan to stay for the long-haul, unless I somehow become an RE-mogul, so wholesaling is definitely not for me (even though I think I could likely excel there).  But, flipping with the right partners might be.  I have access to some capital and a decent base of knowledge/sophistication, but there are just so many places to start and ways to go!  I figure I'll take it slow, but wanted to get my name out there.

Given the high taxes and high property values in and around NYC, I am very curious to see what strategies local investors use.  I can't imagine buy and hold works too well in Long Island or Queens, but I'd love to be proven wrong!  I can easily see flipping working here, but I'm not sure how I would even get started in that strategy (let alone if I could convince my family that it isn't the riskiest strategy ever!)  As of right now, I'm considering one or two houses on Roofstock or through Memphis Invest (pending more diligence on them), depending on available financing, and purchasing a few tax liens.  

I'm looking forward to connecting here on BP and launching this stage of my investing career!

[David Ribardo]

Max, welcome to the forum! 

I am a buy and hold investor, and run a team of investor agents in the Lehigh Valley / Allentown Pennsylvania. A high percentage of my clients are NY and NJ based investors that come across the river for the lower price points, higher purchase price to rent rations, and more favorable landlord / tenant laws. 

Just from your initial post here, I recommend you take a look at other ways to buy rental real estate other then a turnkey company. A turnkey will generally get you the lowest rate of return, but use the least amount of your time. Judging from the enthusiasm in your initial approach, it seems you might be more suited for investing independently. 

You'd be surprised how easy it is to start an out of state investing business with the right team. Get yourself a solid agent, home inspector, lender, property manager, and contractor, and you won't need a turnkey company. Yes- you will spend a little bit more of your time, but with a good mentor and strong professionals, you will have the ability to capture value add opportunities you otherwise would miss out on. Compared to a turnkey, raising rents, doing some cosmetic renovations, and buying properties below value can easily double or triple your overall rate of return.