All Forum Posts by: Stefanie Gouvis

Track rentals typically make the most money if they are VERY close to the track. Otherwise maybe Airbnb would be best. There is also a large restaurant company here that I have been told needs rentals for a shorter term but pays very well to house staff that they bring in from out of town to work for them during high season. So maybe you could try to find something like that and do Airbnb in the meantime.

Subdividing is not super cheap, and vacant lots typically sit on the market longer than homes do, but it could be a good opportunity if you have funds available to purchase the lot and to pay for subdividing services. Might take a while to fully cash out but depending on the location of that land it might be a smart thing to do.

It is important to pay attention to property taxes here, as they can be really high, but there is a reason we have tons of investors and landlords here. Definitely money to be made. As Tim said, it can be expensive when dealing with evictions, but that is everywhere in NYS, not just Albany.

Also worth noting, Good Cause eviction has been struck down twice in the courts. I'm sure they will keep trying for it, but for now, looks like it is dead in the water, as the bill was cut from the budget.

If you need help locating more info on any properties you are interested in around this area, let me know!

I'm not an investor personally but wanted to chime in on this since I recently did a series covering appreciation in our area. Many folks in this thread were mentioning not to expect appreciation in Albany but in my opinion that couldn't be farther from the truth. If everyone in this thread had purchased a property 3 or 4 years ago when the thread had most of its activity... they'd have been very happy today!

The average appreciation from 4 years ago, in Albany county as a whole.. was a whopping 18.5%, so 4.6% on average year over year. This is not an anomaly, and even though it has basically been a strong buyers market nonstop since then, data from earlier than that is still consistent in that appreciation does exist here. 

The biggest negative I can usually think of for Albany is that the taxes are high in relation to the assessed values (100k assessed value usually means about 5-6k in property taxes). This area has strong rental prices and being that the county is made up of about 40% non-homeowners, there is always strong demand for rentals, and therefore strong sale prices and steady appreciation. 

If you or any investor clients are in the market for a 4-door mixed use commercial building in the greater Albany NY area.. I've got the building for you!

--4,000 sq ft

--3 of 4 units currently rented

--$44k+ potential gross yearly rents 

--Low costs (taxes, sewer & water 4,500/year)

--Brand new electric meters & panels, other updates throughout most units

--Reach out if you want to know more! Listed on MLS - 22 N Main St in Broadalbin

Hi Andrew!

For a truly short-term airbnb, I'd recommend looking close to areas people come to visit during much of the year, for example downtown Saratoga or the Saratoga Race Course. Folks are often looking for entire "track season" rentals (the season runs from mid-July to labor day). Oftentimes if you are willing to rent out an entire house or unit for that whole season, you can make well over what your entire yearly mortgage is within those few months. Folks still come here in the fall for leaf-peeping, as well as wintertime to enjoy the charm of downtown during the holidays, as well as visiting nearby mountains for skiing. Lake properties (Lake George, Saratoga Lake, Sacandaga Lake, etc) would also be a good spot for STR/Airbnb but mostly for summertime renting unless it is close enough to ski mountains or snowmobiling trails, then you might have more usage than just summer.

For a more medium term rental, I would recommend being closer to the hospitals. Albany Med, St. Peters, and Albany Memorial hospitals are all within about 3 miles of each other, so anywhere within range of those would be a great spot for traveling healthcare workers.

Airbnb has become more and more popular in the Capital Region, so there might be a lot more competition. If demand for those ever slows down too much, you'd have no problem switching to a long term rental because the demand is strong in this area. With an estimated rate of about 57% homeownership in Albany county according to the Census bureau, there are a lot of renters. Long term rentals are always in demand here, currently there are 69 residential leases actively listed on the MLS in Albany county, but 78 rentals have closed since January 1 2023, so you can see the demand is there.

I hope this was helpful, if you want to discuss anything further please feel free to reach out!

Hi Sherez! I can tell you from a real estate perspective that multifamily properties that are in decent shape and well priced are still flying off of the market pretty quickly. Rents are still strong, and though there are a lot of new construction rentals being built all around the area (not just Albany) their rents are often extremely high. Most of the rentals on the MLS that have rented within the past 3 months have only been listed for 2 months or less before being rented, so demand appears to remain strong for MF rentals.

If you need help looking when you return to the area, or have any questions about the market, feel free to reach out to me!