All Forum Posts by: Mary Joe

Hi Mark, I am interested in the Rochester/buffalo area. Can you recommend some neighborhoods in Rochester/ Buffalo area that are worth looking into? I am mostly interested in condos for long term rentals.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks
MJ

What interest rate is your student loan? I agree with what Ned says, paying off your student loan is like an immediate return on your investment, at whatever percentage your loan interest rate is.

However, I can also understand why you are anxious to get into the game especially for a market like NYC.

$20K in student loan is not a lot by any standard.

Personally, (I am sure many would disagree), unless your student loan carries some insanely high interest rate, I would get into the NYC real estate market first.

The market is heating up pretty fast already for Manhattan and Brooklyn, I am sure Queens is not far behind. I don't know how long it took you to save up $20K. Say if you are to pay off your student loan now, you will miss the opportunity to invest in NYC real estate now when the prices are still somewhat reasonable, by the time you have saved up another down payment, I am sure the prices of the properties you are interested in will be easily $20K higher than what they are now.

So I would invest now if it was up to me.

Nik Parks Nik I think the question is whether you plan to live in NYC long term or not. If the answer is yes, then you should first focus on saving enough money to buy a place for yourself first before you even consider any kind of real estate investment. The rent in NYC keeps going up, if you plan to be here long term, you must have your own place.

There is a huge condo complex called Acropolis in Astoria, they have 2 bedrooms selling for approx $250K (gut renovated). You can then take on a roommate to help you with the mortgage.

Another option is coop which is also a good idea for your budget.

You are right, Astoria is actually a very expensive neighborhood, multi family are all $1M and up.

In my opinion, your first priority is to find a way to stop paying rent in NYC.

Hi Jessy, from your experience why are these 50-80k houses more risky to manage? I am thinking of doing some out of state (lower end) investing myself, so would appreciate any advice from those who have done this .

Thanks
MJ

Hi Jerry, what you described are probably very selected few that is out of the norm (for whatever reasons).

Right now the average price per sq ft in NYC is $1000+ / sq ft.

A very basic 400 sq ft studio condo can easily go for $400K upward, and the market rent is approx $2200 per month.

Say if I put 30% down, my monthly mortgage (rough estimate) is probably about $1300 per month, add another $800 (low estimate) for condo fees and ppty tax combined, that will be just about enough for me to break even at market rent of $2200 for studios.

That doesn't even include insurance and other costs that I will have to incur.

Can you name some of the buildings that can yield around 6% in NYC? Would love to check them out...

thanks
MJ

Thanks Ned. From what I have seen so far, I believe it is more market specific than deal specific.

For example, in NYC, it is almost impossible to break even unless you have at least 40-50% down.

Hi Keith, even though I have been investing for over 10 years now, I consider myself novice too as there is always something new to learn.

You are right, it is impossible to get any cash flows on deals around NYC. I have checked Harlem, Brooklyn, Queens over the years, have no choice but to explore out of state for cash flow properties.

That said, there is still a lot of appeal to investing locally in NYC as I can properly manage the "risks" associated with my investment. Plus in NYC, you are almost guaranteed that you get capital appreciation over time so investing in NYC is not all bad.

As a matter of fact, I made an offer for a condo in Harlem just a few weeks ago, enticed by the fact that there will be a new wholefoods at the corner of 125th street and Lenox, but decided to walk away from it because I already own a few high end properties and after reading this board I think I should diversify and give the low end properties a try.

I just started searching for out of state condos recently, am happy to compare notes with you. Feel free to send me a private message.

Thanks
MJ

Was just talking to Brian about this topic, thought I would start a new thread.

Anyone has advice on places where condos cash flow well and may perhaps satisfy the 50% / 2% rule?

Brian Ortins thanks Brian, when you apply the 50% rule for condos, do you include the HOA as part of the 50% expenses ? I find that it is very difficult to find condos that satisfy the 50% rule unless the HOA is already included as part of the 50%.

That being said, I still prefer investing in condos as I think it is more my style, it is more manageable especially when I am buying out of state properties. I never have to worry about the roof, boiler, electrical, etc. That saves me a lot of headache.

Kendra, I don't think you want your tenants to move out every year, turnover costs can easily add up and hurt your cash flow in a major way.

Personally I prefer stable tenants who pay below market rather than a new tenant every year even though they pay above market rent.