Advice on buying mulitfamily in NYC?

[Gary Reed]

Hi Everyone,

My business partner and I are looking to get into real estate investing. We are in the very beginning stages of researching as much as we can. After doing some research and speaking with some people already in REI, we think our focus will be on multifamily units.

We have access to about $2M in capital (in the form of loans from friends/family/etc.)  In addition, we imagine we can secure a loan from a bank.  We don't plan to use all our access to capital.  Since we are relatively new, we plan to purchase a multifamily unit around $1M+ through a combination of a bank loan and personal loans. (And if all goes well, use the remainder of our access to capital for additional deals).

Few simple questions - if you had access to about $2M in capital, how would you invest in the NYC market? or would you invest in NYC?  (i.e. Location? What are some factors you would look at? What types of cap rates? etc.) (Note: By NYC I include all five boroughs - we are thinking LIC or Brooklyn right now). And - would you invest with 0% of your own money (i.e. Can you make money using 100% someone else's money taking into account mortgage payments/interest).

Appreciate any advice!