A NYC attorney looking to start in real estate

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A NYC attorney looking to start in real estate

Efraim L.
Attorney · NYC · Member since 2019 · 33 posts · 22 votes

Hi all,

I am a New York State licensed attorney, working at a general practice but mostly in civil litigation. I do have some attorney experience in real estate but I cannot call myself a real estate attorney as of yet. I was born and bred in Brooklyn, but I now live in Manhattan.

Recently, after countless youtube videos, I found BiggerPockets and I decided that it is time to take life into my own hands. I have seen people being able to attain financial freedom through real estate, so I decided that I should look into it as well. Thus, here I am, at BiggerPockets, taking the initiative to learn this wonderful field.

By living in New York, I know that I live in a tough real estate market, especially with the new laws that are coming through the pipeline. My initial thought was to invest in properties where I become the landlord and keep them as rental income. Learning a bit about the NYC real estate market, I do not know how to approach it. I was thinking to start looking in the outer boroughs like the Bronx, Queens or Staten Island. Or I should start outside of New York like maybe Philadelphia.

Thank you BiggerPockets for creating a space where people like me, who want to start investing in real estate can turn to for ideas and learning materials. I am here to learn and would love to eventually be able to give back to this community.

Efraim

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Alex Furini
Architect · Cary, NC · Member since 2018 · 96 posts · 63 votes
7y

@Efraim L. I agree with @Allan Szlafrok. As a landlord you will be dipping your feet into new waters in all kinds of ways. Many people on here do lots of out of state rental investments, however most would probably recommend to invest in your own backyard for at least your first couple. Personally If time is on your side, I recommend doing everything yourself in the beginning. Not only will this save some money(not time), but it will familiarize you with the ins and outs of running an investment property. Once you have a grasp on the process, you will have educated yourself to better manage a Property Manager should you decide to hire one down the road. 

Do yourself a favor and start looking at properties online and analyze their cash flows. If there is an open house, stop by and do some on site analyzing. Basically you want to get comfortable with the process. This will make acting on a prospective property much easier in the future. Just remember practice makes perfect. 

Best of Luck and welcome to the community.

Alex Furini, RA

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  • Allan Szlafrok
    Rental Property Investor · Long Island, NY · Member since 2015 · 490 posts · 301 votes
    7y

    @Efraim L. There are some really strong markets you should look at across the river in NJ. Jersey City, Bayonne, and the rest of Hudson County have seen tremendous growth in prices and new development over the last few years. Same for Essex county. Before you consider investing somewhere where it’s going to be harder to manage your properties take a look at these areas and see if you can make them work. I will say that these markets are extremely competitive but if you can make the numbers work closer to where you live that’s a good situation.

    1Reply
  • Alex Furini
    Architect · Cary, NC · Member since 2018 · 96 posts · 63 votes
    7y

    @Efraim L. I agree with @Allan Szlafrok. As a landlord you will be dipping your feet into new waters in all kinds of ways. Many people on here do lots of out of state rental investments, however most would probably recommend to invest in your own backyard for at least your first couple. Personally If time is on your side, I recommend doing everything yourself in the beginning. Not only will this save some money(not time), but it will familiarize you with the ins and outs of running an investment property. Once you have a grasp on the process, you will have educated yourself to better manage a Property Manager should you decide to hire one down the road. 

    Do yourself a favor and start looking at properties online and analyze their cash flows. If there is an open house, stop by and do some on site analyzing. Basically you want to get comfortable with the process. This will make acting on a prospective property much easier in the future. Just remember practice makes perfect. 

    Best of Luck and welcome to the community.

    Alex Furini, RA

    4Reply
  • Holly Williams
    Rental Property Investor · New York City · Member since 2014 · 208 posts · 271 votes
    7y

    @Efraim L.

    I was a NYC advertising executive. I found my niche making passive investments in apartment complexes out of state. I also have a couple of properties in Brooklyn and Ulster County NY, but I’m not a fan of the NE in general.

    I’m in the City as well, and feel free to ping me if I can help.

    1Reply
  • David Lichtenstadter
    Rental Property Investor · Northern NJ · Member since 2016 · 341 posts · 144 votes
    7y

    @Efraim L. As others mentioned on the thread, there are some great markets across the river, I’m familiar with a couple of them, feel free to reach out.

    2Reply
  • Tanya Wehr
    MA · Member since 2019 · 6 posts · 4 votes
    7y

    Great thread, @Efraim L.! I was looking at Philadeplphia myself, but now focusing on properties in NJ, specifically in Hackensack. It looks like I can make the numbers work, but I keep hearing mixed things about the area (too far from the city, not safe, etc.). Should I forget Hackensack and focus on Jersey City and Bayonne instead? @Allan Szlafrok, @David Lichtenstadter, I would really appreciate your input.  

    1Reply
  • Allan Szlafrok
    Rental Property Investor · Long Island, NY · Member since 2015 · 490 posts · 301 votes
    7y

    @Tanya Wehr JC and Bayonne are very hot right now. There are places in JC where numbers simply don’t work and there are areas where they do but they have pretty high crime and other issues. Then there are areas like the West Side, West Bergen, and Bergen-Lafayette where I have been investing that’s are seeing a lot of development and are improving rapidly. I recommend you check out those two neighborhoods if you want to look at JC. The Heights are great too but I think those other two areas offer better value. I don’t own anything in Bayonne so I won’t speak on it.

    2Reply
  • Marc Winter
    Real Estate Broker · Northeast PA · Member since 2017 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    7y

    @Efraim L. welcome!

    There are many different ways to financial independence in real estate; which way are you choosing?  

    Are you looking for appreciation  but with negative cash flow?  Stay in the City.  There's no where to build but UP!

    Are you looking for long-term hold with positive cash flow?  Get outa town.  Parts of NJ or much of PA will work for you.

    @Alex Furini gave sage advice.  Inspect as much property as possible.  Run numbers.  Speak to other investors, contractors, lenders.  You must dive in; however, keep your powder dry until you have seen/inspected at least 100 properties.  By that time you will have gleaned enough knowledge and familiarity with the product that you can confidently find "the deal".

    Good luck to you.

    1Reply
  • Trevor Ewen
    Rental Property Investor · Weehawken, NJ · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 704 votes
    7y

    @Efraim L.

    I am in the out-of-state camp, almost 100%. Recent state law changes seem to be validating that decision I made when I started. I have seen more than a few people get hosed in NYC, and the costs are very high to be counted as learning. Happy to tell you more about my experience and strategy, whenever it's convenient for you.

    0Reply
  • Efraim L.
    OP
    Attorney · NYC · Member since 2019 · 33 posts · 22 votes
    7y

    @Allan Szlafrok Thank you for the advice. Yes I have heard about Jersey but I did not know where to start looking.

    @Alex Furini I know I have to get comfortable with the process before I can start investing. I the issue I was having was where to start looking as I have a full time job and not much time to get to jersey at the moment. So I guess just getting my feet wet is a better start than doing nothing.

    0Reply
  • Efraim L.
    OP
    Attorney · NYC · Member since 2019 · 33 posts · 22 votes
    7y

    @Holly Williams Thanks for the offer. When you say that you have investments out of state, how far are those from you and how do you manage them?

    0Reply
  • Efraim L.
    OP
    Attorney · NYC · Member since 2019 · 33 posts · 22 votes
    7y

    @Tanya Wehr Thanks for being apart of the thread. What made you start looking in Philly? I heard that it have a future but did not do the research myself.  But based on the rest of the posts here, it looks like investors from NYC are going to Jersey close to NYC.

    0Reply
  • Efraim L.
    OP
    Attorney · NYC · Member since 2019 · 33 posts · 22 votes
    7y

    @Marc Winter Thank you.

    Thank you for adding to the sage advice of @Alex Furini.

    I do not know what kind of real estate investments are good for me. But at this point, I am looking for long-term hold with positive cash flow.

    0Reply
  • Efraim L.
    OP
    Attorney · NYC · Member since 2019 · 33 posts · 22 votes
    7y

    @Trevor Ewen How far out of state did you go and how do you manage from afar?

    Thank you for the offer.

    1Reply
  • Holly Williams
    Rental Property Investor · New York City · Member since 2014 · 208 posts · 271 votes
    7y

    @Efraim L. All of my investments are totally passive syndications.  I never realized that you could truly invest in real estate without the work until I discovered multifamily syndication.

    0Reply
  • Steve Kontos
    Investor · Great Neck, NY · Member since 2016 · 679 posts · 467 votes
    7y

    @Efraim L.

    Even in surrounding areas around NYC you will find yourself running into other issues in trying to make the numbers work.  While I can't speak for everyone, I personally have been investing out of state for over 12 years now.  The rate of returns in terms of cash flow are great.  I only go into landlord friendly states to help reduce some of my risk.  It's a numbers game and over here in NYC the numbers are terrible.  The only possible avenue you have is if you have an "in" and even those deals are nothing to brag about.  

    Best of luck!

    1Reply
  • Alina Trigub
    Rental Property Investor · Glen Rock, NJ · Member since 2015 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    7y

    @Efraim L.

    Welcome to BP community. In terms of investing, you should start with asking yourself whether you have the bandwidth and want to do everything yourself = be active or rather invest passively = private lending, syndications, turnkeys, and many more options.

    To help you figure this out, here's an article: https://www.biggerpockets.com/member-blogs/10850/8...

    The next step will be to decide what niche to pick within the option you selected above. 

    Network with other RE investors locally (come and join our meetup, more details under my profile) and virtually. 

    I can also recommend you some books to read if you'd like. 

    0Reply
  • Eleena de Lisser
    Rental Property Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2014 · 130 posts · 77 votes
    7y

    @Efraim L. Welcome to the BP forum! There's a Meetup on Long Island for folks interested in investing in apartments out-of-state. May not be convenient for you to attend if you live in Manhattan, but it looks like they do events on Sundays. Good luck!

    0Reply
  • Abel CurielBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Queens, NY · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    7y

    Hello @Efraim L. and welcome to the BP Forums!

    This is an excellent place to get connected with like-minded individuals as well as professionals in your target markets.

    You've received some excellent feedback from your post especially from @Alex Furini and @Allan Szlafrok to name a couple...

    Starting in and around your backyard is a great place to start. You'll get hands-on acquisition experience, project management experience (assuming theres a bit of work being done on the property) and property management experience.

    Once you've identified your target area(s), seek out an investor friendly Realtor. You can also look for a lender, attorney, contractor, engineer and anyone else you'll need to complete your transaction... but thats a LOT of work and research as well. Your Realtor should be able to connect you with the rest of your "team" or at least provide solid recommendations.

    When you have your target area and Real Estate team in line, you're good to go!

    Enjoy the ride and best of luck to you!

    Abel

    REbuild Team - eXp Realty5234 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    0Reply
  • Matthew Irish-JonesBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Buffalo, NY · Member since 2017 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    7y
    Lots of NYC people are looking at the Buffalo market. Let me know if you ever want more info.
    Irish Jones Realty4.947 Reviews
    View Page
    0Reply
  • Efraim L.
    OP
    Attorney · NYC · Member since 2019 · 33 posts · 22 votes
    7y

    @Steve Kontos

    Thank you for your wise words. My only issue with out of state starting off is not being able to visit the actual properties while transitioning from a full-time job. I have heard from others how bad NYC is especially with the new legislations making it worse landlords. Now I have to start finding those landlord friendly state in order to make my numbers work as well. I don't have an in so I am in the same boat as most.

    Best of luck to you as well.

    0Reply
  • Efraim L.
    OP
    Attorney · NYC · Member since 2019 · 33 posts · 22 votes
    7y

    @Alina Trigub

    Thank you for the detail instruction for someone like me looking to start without any knowledge in this field. I would love some great book recommendations, as I am reading everything I can at this moment.

    0Reply
  • Efraim L.
    OP
    Attorney · NYC · Member since 2019 · 33 posts · 22 votes
    7y

    @Eleena de Lisser

    Thank you for the welcome. Out on Long Island might be far but to learn it might be close enough. How is investing in Philadelphia?

    Good luck to you as well

    0Reply
  • Efraim L.
    OP
    Attorney · NYC · Member since 2019 · 33 posts · 22 votes
    7y

    @Abel Curiel

    Hello, thank you for the welcome and the additional advice. I know that I won't be able to do everything myself so it's good to learn who else out there can help me.

    Best of luck to you as well.

    0Reply
  • Efraim L.
    OP
    Attorney · NYC · Member since 2019 · 33 posts · 22 votes
    7y

    @Matthew Irish-Jones

    Thank you for contributing to this post and for giving me some insights. My only reservation is that it is far for me now starting with real estate, but will definitely look there in the future.

    Best of luck

    1Reply
  • Alina Trigub
    Rental Property Investor · Glen Rock, NJ · Member since 2015 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    7y
    Efraim,
    PM me for the books list.

    Originally posted by @Efraim L.:

    @Alina Trigub

    Thank you for the detail instruction for someone like me looking to start without any knowledge in this field. I would love some great book recommendations, as I am reading everything I can at this moment.

    0Reply
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