NYC Area (2 hour radius)-reintroduction, the basics of my plan, and the team i need to build

[Dave Currence]

Greetings BP'ers!  Ive already posted a very brief introduction couple months ago, but I have only posted a couple of times since.  

Over the last couple of months, I have spent a tremendous amount of time reading the forums, books, podcasts, etc. to try to form a plan for my situation. I have been in business for myself, in the restaurant biz, for the better part of the last 10 years...so I know what it takes to have to work every day at something. Currently, I am looking to shed my interest(s) in those businesses and transition to something new, REI.

We currently own and self-manage a condo in Manhattan, which is being rented out, so although limited, I am gaining some experience at being a landlord.

After a fair amount of thought and research, I believe that I will be best suited right now by committing myself to "rehab and sell" projects.  This is mostly because I will be able to cover the cost of these projects myself (in the right market), and I am happy having the "job" of an active project.  Eventually, I would like to have enough capital to put together multifamily buy and hold deals for more passive income, even if I was to continue to do rehabs.

So far, I have only really looked at markets up the Hudson, mostly Dutchess County.  I am totally open to other markets within a couple hours of NYC, however.  Jersey, PA, Connecticut, Hudson Valley, Long Island, etc. all would work for me if the deal was right.

I would be excited about the idea of partnering with someone who has experience in one of the markets within that range of NYC, but am willing to go solo if I can put together a good team in the right market.   I would like to start with a smaller capital project, just to get my feet wet...(under 100K?)

Specific assistance I could use right now would be an agent in the area(s) who have the willingness to work with a newbie, but also the know how to help find the right deals.  I would be happy to discuss partnership arrangements with this agent on a deal-to-deal basis.

I will continue to update this thread if it gets any traction, and I will be pushing myself to actually come up with a concrete plan to start.  In the meantime, if anyone has anything they'd like to offer, either advice, assistance, or if you want to talk about partnering up, please converse here or send me a PM.

Thanks Everyone!