Moved to NYC - should we buy our apartment or invest elsewhere?

[Cole Bennett]

We are currently going through a passive real estate crash course and learning about syndications, etc. We already own a duplex and quad in Lexington, KY - our hometown. They earn their way and a little more. Recent events caused us to move to NYC. Family of four: 2 kids, 13 and 16, renting a 2BR in midtown Manhattan for $5,300.

Trying to steer clear of analysis paralysis, I do feel we have some unusual circumstances that could take a little extra figurin'. We didn't ever figure we'd buy in Manhattan, but we could if we had to. If we're considering something like a $200k investment into a syndication, should we be considering how that money could be a downpayment on a (decent 2BR) $1M condo in NYC? Is that crazy? Should we stick with the more "straightforward" plan of syndication?

This question is probably only for people who know this market really well. We're still trying to figure out things like maintenance fees, etc. If we bought, we'd eliminate our exorbitant rent, but do condo/co-op owners really make much equity, even if the market does well? And what if (slight chance) we could buy a few units together, and rent some out?

TIA for anything. I'm new to this but have been binging BP podcasts for weeks and hope to be helpful to others in the near future!

[Jason Lee]

My kids have gone to school in Hell's Kitchen and we have friends' kids on Broadway and so know the drill. You have teens and you could be empty nesters in the next five years. That'll go by quick. Unless you know you want to stick around longer, I would continue to rent. Five years is a pretty short time horizon for an equity play. I don't know where the data above came from but 2017 was the peak in Manhattan. The median sales price is down about 10% from there. The sales market is pretty hot now, not that much inventory, lots of buyers, but prices are still flat. Meanwhile the rental market is still very soft and you can get a great deal. Resale inventory has always been a bit thin in Hell's Kitchen. You don't have that many big co-ops or older condos... it's mostly smaller walk-up co-ops or new dev so it's pretty limiting to begin with. If you were open to other neighborhoods and a longer time line then yeah I could see you pulling the trigger on an apartment you really like. If you're on the fence then I would lean towards renting.