All Forum Posts by: Gregory Mizzi

@Jeff White I have been looking at Denver for about a little over a year now ever since my job mentioned they were building an office there. It looks and sounds ideal from what I have read and have seen from YouTube videos about the various neighborhoods. Winters can be kind of miserable here but sometimes nice. Though the slush can last for a good month. And despite being a from the city, I enjoy the outdoors quite a bit, so Denver seems to be the best place for all my wants, so I am really gunning for that promotion.

For the long distance bit, I originally looked at Cleveland, OH since it was not too far from NYC and inexpensive, but I do not want to buy just because it is low. It could be a money pit with no returns and the city, from what I researched, is not growing much. I have been looking more recently at Houston since there seems to be a trend of people moving to Texas lately, and their homes are cheaper than Austin. Most of these searches are for mock analyses to see what a potential ROI would be using conservative estimates (such as using a 70% loan to value on a potential cash out refi on a BRRRR). So lots of practice and theory for the moment. I am always amazed at how far my money could go elsewhere. $300K in Houston will get me a mansion, but here in NYC it might get me a shoe box studio. Single family homes in Brooklyn where I used to live were going for $1.2M+. Not only were they were nothing to look twice at and had no parking either. NYC real estate is nuts.

If I do get the promotion, or I find another job and move, I have been thinking of a strategy. I was going to post another discussion about it, but the gist of it this: I want to BRRRR to build the equity and net worth. Cash flow is secondary for me currently. Enough to pay the mortgage and repairs, or at least a significant percentage of it would be enough for now. However, I am under the impression from doing some hypothetical analyses and reading some discussions here that BRRRR's are better with at least a 20% down, and that doing an FHA or VA loan (my wife is a veteran) will probably not leave enough left over to cash out. I could use my portfolio money, but I would rather not between the potential for loss and the capital gains tax. So I was considering buying a fixer-upper, living in it for a year or so with an FHA or VA loan, sell to realize the entire value (minus the loan) as profit, not just 70%, then BRRRR. Best way I can describe it is a long term flip with a conventional mortgage vs. and interest only loan since I will be living there. It is slower, but safer I think. That is the current strategy I have been thinking about for a few days now. I do like the idea of house hacking, so a duplex (especially if it needs work), triplex or fourplex would be fine as well. Though I do not think I could realize enough money for a down payment from a duplex rental fast enough to BRRRR. But a tri or fourplex could work, so I am open to that if one happens to be available in my price range at the opportune time (whenever that might be). I know renting by the room and AirBnB's can have higher potential rental income, I just hate roommates. Neighbors? Fine. Roommates? No thank you. It could work in a multi family, but not if I buy a single family. I am after the appreciation, especially forced appreciation through renovations.

My name is Greg, I am 30yrs old and I live in NYC, specifically Manhattan. However, I was born in Queens and lived in Brooklyn for a few years. I was born, raised, and lived in NYC all my life. I have zero experience in real estate. My parents have always rented and I currently rent. My main job is in Office Operations for a tech company, which involves some commercial real estate projects whereby I work with the vendors and contractors among my other duties. Ideally, I want to purchase my own home and grow my portfolio so that I can retire early. My current goal is to be financially independent by the age of 40.

I currently have a $70K stock portfolio that usually does very well, market downturns notwithstanding, plus ~$30K in unvested employee stock options and a continuous employee stock purchase plan. Overall, I should have ~$100K invested by next year assuming there is no crash (though I do think there will be one in the next few years considering all the stimulus money being "printed" but no where to really spend it yet, among other reasons). My current goal is to continue investing regardless of volatility, buying low during a dip and holding.

When it comes to real estate specifically, I watch videos and read articles about how people become much more well-to-do more quickly through real estate than other forms of investing if done correctly. After watching YouTube videos about real estate from users, such as Graham Stephan, I was eventually suggested a BiggerPockets video about analyzing a deal by doing an in person walkthrough and the rest is history. Typically, I listen to the BiggerPockets podcast when I can and I have two BiggerPockets books, one by Brandon Turner and the other by David Greene.

With all of that out of the way, my real estate journey is just beginning. My current state is what you might call uneasy for a number of reasons. One, the biggest hurdle in my opinion is the NYC housing market. It is overpriced and overvalued. I am not comfortable investing here. My current paycheck affords my rent (which is 50% of my net income), which leaves little room to save between food, utilities, helping my wife through college, etc. What I do "save" goes straight into my portfolio. I am, however, debt-free* (insofar as I pay my credit cards off immediately as I use them for everything to accumulate points, therefore I carry no balance or incur interest charges). I am also shooting for a promotion at my job which would require me relocating to Denver, CO. Which, if it does not work out, I plan on moving anyway because, despite living here all my life, I do not like NYC. Therefore I have considered long distance real estate investing (which is covered in one of the books), and waiting until I move out of the city so that I may have more disposable income to work with. I have been mulling over some strategies that could possibly work for me in the near future, but that is for another discussion/thread.

Thank you all in advance for taking the time to read and respond to this. My notifications are on and I look forward to being more active.