Am I Being Too Pessimistic?

[Jon B.]

So I'm pretty much ready to start my house hunting process but it seems like my pessimism is overtaking everything that I think. I'm looking at Orange county NY and looking at a 2-4 unit property, where I'll live in one unit and rent the others. It seems like every deal that I look at, I either come to one of the conclusion: the property taxes are too high to pull a decent profit (Monroe); the area isn't a desired area (Port Jervis, Newburgh); or the property needs a lot of work and may have a huge hidden repair that is unknown to it due to old age. I'll be using FHA to finance and have no problem with using the 203k loan for rehab. My goal is to make the property as cheap as possible because I only plan on living in it for the one year required as I purchase another investment afterwards. I run the numbers on the deals accounting for all costs (capex, maintenance, vacancy included), and many seem like good deals.... But I always see myself coming back and questioning myself on whether it really is a good deal based on one of the subjects stated earlier. Am I being too picky or cautious, or is this feeling justified??

[Tymalaya Thomas]

@Jon B. As a 17 year resident of Newburgh, I won't argue about the violence in the city, I personally know one of the families of the most recent fatality. The "town" area is not so violent. Nonetheless, people still live here and are not moving. Habitat for Humanity is "in the city" of Newburgh - growing strong!! Discouraging investors is unfair. Everyone investor will and should analyze EVERY property they consider. At the end of the day real estate is risky ANYWHERE, people still need a place to live, and if the numbers work for us we have a decision to make. Wishing you all the best in every endevour.