All Forum Posts by: Alex Horelick

Welcome Neil! Well said.. I actually have a lead on a development deal down here in Westchester if you’re interested! Good luck and reach out if you have any questions or if there is anything I can help you with!

If you want to try Westchester - give me a shout! $20k works for a house hacking down payment in Westchester or other areas outside of NYC

Hi Alex,

It seems that you still have equity in the deal after a 70% LTV cash out refi ($591k loan or so). My questions would be:

1 - was the appraisal accurate? It’s possible that another banks appraisal would yield a different result or there are minor changes you could make (I.e. get the units up to market rent or increase income) that could raise that home value. 

2 - is there anything in the appraisal that looks odd to you? Sometimes the comps that are used are not accurate reflections of YOUR homes value.

If you have equity left after buying out family maybe you could use some of it to make improvements on the property to raise property value? Otherwise you could renegotiate the family agreement basing it on the appraisal of the property..

@Mark ONeill take a look at SONYMA loans it is a NY state income-based program and you can be 3% down on a duplex. Basically same as FHA but the bonus is that it is NOT an FHA mortgage so you can buy a duplex with SONYMA 3% down, live in it for a year, rent it out and make another 3.5% down FHA purchase of 1-4 units. It's a total home run for 2 properties low down payment in 2 years. I am doing this with a couple of my clients and have done a SONYMA loan myself message me if you want more details!!

This sounds like an awesome strategy Joe please let me know more as you develop it!

Hi Selena,

You can certainly leverage that $150k to buy a rental in the NYC area that cash flows. FHA limits are different by each metropolitan area and type of property. You can get a 1-4 unit through FHA in NYC and the surrounding areas for 3.5% down however the standards are stricter for 3-4 units so the numbers on those deals typically don't fit in this market. I can explain all of this if you like - it's sort of my specialty with my clients I work with as an agent. Basically you're best move is likely to buy a 2 unit property (because the FHA guidelines make it near impossible to fit the numbers on 3-4 units in this area) and FHA will loan up to $930k in this area on a duplex which is a $32,550 down payment @ 3.5%. You can put down more if you like of course. The rental income will help with the affordability but they will only credit you for 75% of it when you go to qualify for the loan so the loan amount that you can take essentially depends on: your down payment, your personal income and assets, the rental income of the property and the expenses of the property like tax and insurance. You can send me a PM if you want more details or to make time to talk I'm happy to help!

Hi @Ethan Max - what type of property are you looking for? Cashflow numbers in Westchester are lower than most areas but it does have its advantages from an investment standpoint.

@Gabe Viteri do they do this type of loan for 1-4 units?

Hey @Brittany Lischinsky I’m a local agent who specializes in multi family and am happy to help let’s connect! There are properties in lower Westchester that cash flow but they don’t yield high returns - however you can consistently find high quality tenants in this market with strong incomes and steady employment that are looking to rent. Cash flow is better in upper Westchester and the surrounding counties. In my opinion, buying a property that cashflows (barely) in Westchester is still a nice investment - if you want to stay local you can have a nice product that will attract quality tenants although your rate of return will not be as high as other areas.

Hey @James Narlis there are great programs for first time homebuyers in NY including down payment assistance for 1-4 unit properties. They also have low down payment options (3-3.5%) available with a long term fixed rate. I’ve arranged a couple of these if you want more info send me a message!