All Forum Posts by: Felderi Santiago

Happy to help. Send me a message and we can connect.

Hi Chris,

It helps to know the area to maximize your investment I find.  Having a good RE agent like Ceasar (we know each other) that knows the area and understands your goals can be a great resource.  BP is also a tremendous resource.  Remember, if you're buying, the seller pays the RE commissions.  So it really doesn't cost you, the buyer, anything to leverage a RE agent.  Of course you don't want to waste their time either out of professional courtesy but if you're serious about buying, partnering with a good RE agent is key.  

Another resource that is helpful is to find out where cities are investing and which projects are coming through the building department.  This gives you insight into which parts of the city are being developed.  If you can buy nearby, even in areas you have to pass by to get to the developed areas, your investment will benefit from those developments.  You can visit city hall and search online for this information; this is public information.  

Personally, I live in downtown Yonkers and focus my efforts in the Yonkers/Mt. Vernon areas which I know best. I like these areas because of their proximity to NYC, the prices are not outrageous and rents are very strong.  

Hope this helps.

I agree with Ceasar.  Very difficult to find single families that will pay for themselves through rental income in the Westchester area.  Single families are good targets for flips for the most part.  

Instead you can look into 3-4 families which are still decently priced and will give you positive cash flow.  Rents are very strong right now in the area and tenants for the most part are staying put in apartments since home prices and rents are increasing quite a bit.  

Hope this helps.

@Anne N., you should definitely look into buying a 2-4 family under the FHA 203k program in either Yonkers, Mt. Vernon or the Bronx to get started. The advantage of the program is you can buy something distressed at a discount and get the funds to buy and rehab. This has several advantages for you.

1) The FHA 203k program requires very little down payment, as little as 3.5%

2) If you find the right place, you can benefit from appreciation right off the bat after you rehab

This is how I personally started investing.  It was a safe way with not a lot of money to get in the game.  I still own the home today, 9 years later.

Like anything there are some cons like high closing costs and the property must be your primary residence for a few years but in my opinion, this is the best way for a new investor to start investing in RE, specially in high value areas like NYC.

Hi Justin,

I'm very familiar with the Yonkers market.  I live and invest in Yonkers, mostly in the downtown area.

We're also brokers and FHA 203k contractors. Happy to answers any questions you have about the local market.