Looking for my first deal in New York City - House Flipping

[Edward Yau]

Hi everyone,

I’m Edward, and this is my first time posting on BiggerPockets. I’m currently based in San Francisco, California. I started flipping houses in 2022 and absolutely fell in love with it.

I’m currently looking into moving to New York City, where I would like to learn about the market and continue flipping houses. While I've been doing research, I would appreciate a local's hands-on perspective on the state of the market and potential areas to target. I am considering starting with Staten Island and Long Island, as they seem to have relatively lower barriers to entry in terms of pricing. Any insights & tips would be appreciated!

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I’m looking forward to chatting with you all soon!

[Joseph Ranola]

Hey Edward! Investor friendly Real Estate Broker on Staten Island- would love to speak more to understand your goals and give you some insights/knowledge on the area. 

Let me know if you have some free time to jump on the phone this week! 

[Abel Curiel]

Quote from @Edward Yau:

Hi everyone,

I’m Edward, and this is my first time posting on BiggerPockets. I’m currently based in San Francisco, California. I started flipping houses in 2022 and absolutely fell in love with it.

I’m currently looking into moving to New York City, where I would like to learn about the market and continue flipping houses. While I've been doing research, I would appreciate a local's hands-on perspective on the state of the market and potential areas to target. I am considering starting with Staten Island and Long Island, as they seem to have relatively lower barriers to entry in terms of pricing. Any insights & tips would be appreciated!

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I’m looking forward to chatting with you all soon!

 Hello Edward and welcome to the BP forums!

Congrats on your early success... have you been finding your own deals or are you sifting through deals from wholesalers, investors, agents, etc.?

As far as tips, I'd recommend looking into the high-volume markets within any county of interest. Mainly, areas that see a higher turnover of properties sold and actively for sale. 

Areas with lower sales volume and inventory are often highly desirable but provide few potential opportunities for flips and have a ton of competition. Some of those local competitors will pay all cash, site unseen, with title issues.

This is a numbers game, so find the zip codes/neighborhoods with a lot of market activity (i.e., the most dots on a Zillow map search) and delve deeper to see if it's an area of interest.

Lastly, when looking up properties, be mindful of taxes. Long Island and other NYC suburbs (i.e. Westchester, Putnam and Rockland Counties, NJ, etc.) have lower price points but can have property taxes 2-3x what you'd find within the 5 boroughs.

All the best!

Abel

[Shawn Parsh]

Edward,

Do you plan to buy a place to live in and rehab or are you going to buy a place to live and a place to fix and flip? I have some contact in Long Island that I can talk to about areas if that would help. 

[Edward Yau]

Quote from @Abel Curiel:

Quote from @Edward Yau:

Hi everyone,

I’m Edward, and this is my first time posting on BiggerPockets. I’m currently based in San Francisco, California. I started flipping houses in 2022 and absolutely fell in love with it.

I’m currently looking into moving to New York City, where I would like to learn about the market and continue flipping houses. While I've been doing research, I would appreciate a local's hands-on perspective on the state of the market and potential areas to target. I am considering starting with Staten Island and Long Island, as they seem to have relatively lower barriers to entry in terms of pricing. Any insights & tips would be appreciated!

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I’m looking forward to chatting with you all soon!

 Hello Edward and welcome to the BP forums!

Congrats on your early success... have you been finding your own deals or are you sifting through deals from wholesalers, investors, agents, etc.?

As far as tips, I'd recommend looking into the high-volume markets within any county of interest. Mainly, areas that see a higher turnover of properties sold and actively for sale. 

Areas with lower sales volume and inventory are often highly desirable but provide few potential opportunities for flips and have a ton of competition. Some of those local competitors will pay all cash, site unseen, with title issues.

This is a numbers game, so find the zip codes/neighborhoods with a lot of market activity (i.e., the most dots on a Zillow map search) and delve deeper to see if it's an area of interest.

Lastly, when looking up properties, be mindful of taxes. Long Island and other NYC suburbs (i.e. Westchester, Putnam and Rockland Counties, NJ, etc.) have lower price points but can have property taxes 2-3x what you'd find within the 5 boroughs.

All the best!

Abel

Hey Abel! Thanks for the response. Most of the deals I've found usually come from off-market deals that agents bring me, direct mail marketing, or auctions. There have been some deals from wholesalers, but I've found that those numbers are a bit more difficult to work with. But I'm always open to using different methods and trying new approaches.  

Thanks for all the insights! I'll surely take all of it into account.

[Edward Yau]

Quote from @Shawn Parsh:

Edward,

Do you plan to buy a place to live in and rehab or are you going to buy a place to live and a place to fix and flip? I have some contact in Long Island that I can talk to about areas if that would help. 

Hey Shawn, thanks for the response. Right now, I'm specifically just looking for a fixer-upper deal to flip. If you have any leads or suggestions, that would be greatly appreciated. I'll send you a message shortly. Thanks again!

[Edward Yau]

Quote from @Joseph Ranola:

Hey Edward! Investor friendly Real Estate Broker on Staten Island- would love to speak more to understand your goals and give you some insights/knowledge on the area. 

Let me know if you have some free time to jump on the phone this week! 

Hi Joseph,

Thank you for your message! I'm glad to hear from you. I've just sent you a message as well. Looking forward to connecting further.

Regards,

Edward

[Jacob Sherman]

i would connect with a local realtor . they have access to the MLS which automatically populates reports for the market

[Mohammed Rahman]

Hey @Edward Yau - I'm a broker and investor in NYC and LI. 

Shoot me a DM and lets talk. 

I'm not sure how the flipping landscape is in SF, but my hunch is if you can manage in a HCOL blue city like SF - you'll be successful here too LOL! 

Look forward to hearing from you. 

[Edward Yau]

Quote from @Mohammed Rahman:

Hey @Edward Yau - I'm a broker and investor in NYC and LI. 

Shoot me a DM and lets talk. 

I'm not sure how the flipping landscape is in SF, but my hunch is if you can manage in a HCOL blue city like SF - you'll be successful here too LOL! 

Look forward to hearing from you. 

Hey Mo,

Thank you for your reply! I've just sent you a DM. Looking forward to connecting further. 

Regards, 

Edward