Rental Property Investor · Catskills · Member since 2020 · 5 posts · 0 votes
Hey Everyone!
New to the game but I have been researching and educating myself on buying my first property and start investing in Real Estate. Currently looking to buy land in the Catskills, mainly in and around Sullivan County, and build a modern cabin on it for STR. Looking to meet individuals generally and build my network, but would also love any advice on this area, contractors, realtors, lawyers, and any other general guidance with just starting in.
Excited to be part of the community and looking forward to meeting and learning from some great people! Currently based in Brooklyn and am a freelancer.
We can discuss more in depth but some of the simple math I use is:
Figure ~100 nights/year of rental income. (Based on 52 weekends/year). You’re not going to rent every weekend but your not going to rent Only weekends. Our 3-season property (mud season is slow) has us at 107 nights this year. We are priced on the higher end of the local market. We could price a bit lower and bump that to 125+ but this increases wear & tear and turnover. The price point we use provides a good balance of cash flow and vacancy for us.
You’ll want to price (and be able to get that price in the market) at:
your carrying costs + desired profit divided by that ~100 nights/year.
It’s VERY important to keep all of your costs in the above number. Things such as HOAs, maintenance, furnishings, decor changes, broken items, and utilities are a few that I see people “forget” to put in and then they lose a little money. That’s not the worst if you’re using it yourself but we Are here (BP) to make money right??
I assembled a spread sheet that I can plug in the house cost and the estimated rental numbers (nights and average per night) to give me a quick valuation on a particular home. We’ve been very successful this year even with Covid shutting things down a bit. STRs are a little more work to get set up but like anything once you have a system set up, you should have a pretty easy time running it.
The second home market has been HOT lately with Covid causing prices to drive way up. I’ve seen houses in NH go for 40% over asking! Key point, know your numbers and buy what fits your numbers and desired location/property type. We got a house under contract recently after 4 lost bids and a dozen showings.
Best of luck in the search and I’m happy to discuss further any time.
Welcome to bigger pockets! You’re in the right place - - this is a great community!
I'm currently looking at investments in Sullivan county too, but I'm looking at more long term rentals. I do have friends who do STR there. It's a great county with lovely people. Feel free to message me to connect. Happy to chat about what you're looking for and see if I can help
Welcome to bigger pockets! You’re in the right place - - this is a great community!
I'm currently looking at investments in Sullivan county too, but I'm looking at more long term rentals. I do have friends who do STR there. It's a great county with lovely people. Feel free to message me to connect. Happy to chat about what you're looking for and see if I can help
Hi there! I'm actually on a similar path as Matthew with the STRs in the Catskills. It has been really difficult to find a good realtor to work with. I've mainly been looking in Sullivan and Delaware Counties. Have your friends had good luck with the STRs? Would love any suggestions/feedback you may have.
Hey Alyssa I struggled with finding an agent for a while but I just got one a couple of months ago and he is excellent! He is an investor himself so understands what we need and what the numbers need to look like to work
He's not on here but his name Richard Dalton - he's with Lazy Meadows Realty although he's anything but!
And yes, STR in that area are renting like crazy at the moment. My friend has a 2 bedroom house which she's renting at $250 a night and she's been full almost every day for the last 4 months.
Feel free to DM me if you want to chat about any of it!
We can discuss more in depth but some of the simple math I use is:
Figure ~100 nights/year of rental income. (Based on 52 weekends/year). You’re not going to rent every weekend but your not going to rent Only weekends. Our 3-season property (mud season is slow) has us at 107 nights this year. We are priced on the higher end of the local market. We could price a bit lower and bump that to 125+ but this increases wear & tear and turnover. The price point we use provides a good balance of cash flow and vacancy for us.
You’ll want to price (and be able to get that price in the market) at:
your carrying costs + desired profit divided by that ~100 nights/year.
It’s VERY important to keep all of your costs in the above number. Things such as HOAs, maintenance, furnishings, decor changes, broken items, and utilities are a few that I see people “forget” to put in and then they lose a little money. That’s not the worst if you’re using it yourself but we Are here (BP) to make money right??
I assembled a spread sheet that I can plug in the house cost and the estimated rental numbers (nights and average per night) to give me a quick valuation on a particular home. We’ve been very successful this year even with Covid shutting things down a bit. STRs are a little more work to get set up but like anything once you have a system set up, you should have a pretty easy time running it.
The second home market has been HOT lately with Covid causing prices to drive way up. I’ve seen houses in NH go for 40% over asking! Key point, know your numbers and buy what fits your numbers and desired location/property type. We got a house under contract recently after 4 lost bids and a dozen showings.
Best of luck in the search and I’m happy to discuss further any time.
Hey Alyssa I struggled with finding an agent for a while but I just got one a couple of months ago and he is excellent! He is an investor himself so understands what we need and what the numbers need to look like to work
He's not on here but his name Richard Dalton - he's with Lazy Meadows Realty although he's anything but!
And yes, STR in that area are renting like crazy at the moment. My friend has a 2 bedroom house which she's renting at $250 a night and she's been full almost every day for the last 4 months.
Feel free to DM me if you want to chat about any of it!
Thank you so much for the contact info. I'll DM you so we can talk more. :)
We can discuss more in depth but some of the simple math I use is:
Figure ~100 nights/year of rental income. (Based on 52 weekends/year). You’re not going to rent every weekend but your not going to rent Only weekends. Our 3-season property (mud season is slow) has us at 107 nights this year. We are priced on the higher end of the local market. We could price a bit lower and bump that to 125+ but this increases wear & tear and turnover. The price point we use provides a good balance of cash flow and vacancy for us.
You’ll want to price (and be able to get that price in the market) at:
your carrying costs + desired profit divided by that ~100 nights/year.
It’s VERY important to keep all of your costs in the above number. Things such as HOAs, maintenance, furnishings, decor changes, broken items, and utilities are a few that I see people “forget” to put in and then they lose a little money. That’s not the worst if you’re using it yourself but we Are here (BP) to make money right??
I assembled a spread sheet that I can plug in the house cost and the estimated rental numbers (nights and average per night) to give me a quick valuation on a particular home. We’ve been very successful this year even with Covid shutting things down a bit. STRs are a little more work to get set up but like anything once you have a system set up, you should have a pretty easy time running it.
The second home market has been HOT lately with Covid causing prices to drive way up. I’ve seen houses in NH go for 40% over asking! Key point, know your numbers and buy what fits your numbers and desired location/property type. We got a house under contract recently after 4 lost bids and a dozen showings.
Best of luck in the search and I’m happy to discuss further any time.
Thank you so much for your response. Lots of good info in there for me to consider and use. It is definitely challenging to find something right now but I'm keeping at it. I know persistence is the key here. Things are being bought up so quickly!
Hi I'm noticing a number of new investors all for Sullivan County area - perhaps it would be good to set up a newbie mastermind group for this area? @Matthew M.@Alyssa Czopor@Eli Lederman@Rich Ramjatan any interest? Or anyone else investing in upstate ny around Sullivan, Ulster, Delaware County areas that is interested in being part of a beginners mm group?
Hi I'm noticing a number of new investors all for Sullivan County area - perhaps it would be good to set up a newbie mastermind group for this area? @Matthew M.@Alyssa Czopor@Eli Lederman@Rich Ramjatan any interest? Or anyone else investing in upstate ny around Sullivan, Ulster, Delaware County areas that is interested in being part of a beginners mm group?
Hi I'm noticing a number of new investors all for Sullivan County area - perhaps it would be good to set up a newbie mastermind group for this area? @Matthew M.@Alyssa Czopor@Eli Lederman@Rich Ramjatan any interest? Or anyone else investing in upstate ny around Sullivan, Ulster, Delaware County areas that is interested in being part of a beginners mm group?