Okay everyone, I am always reading about the NYC market and how hard it is to find deals (it is) and how hard it is to get started without a lot of capital (it is). I got lucky (twice) by finding good deals in a good, up-and-coming neighborhood (Prospect Lefferts Gardens). But I was constantly looking and jumped on them when I saw the right opportunity. I wanted to share a few examples of listings that I think COULD possibly be the TYPES of deals that people are looking for. I'm not saying that these specific deals are great, just that they are worth investigating further.

None of these offer the same potential ROI or cash on cash as you see people talking about elsewhere. None of these are as good as the deals I got (if they were I wouldn't be sharing...). But as we all know, there is a lot of potential for rapid appreciation and also the chance to live in NYC. These are all from the MLS - better deals are off-market I'm sure, but I wanted to illustrate my point that these are publicly available.

1. East New York - yes, a little farther out. Not as much appreciation potential unless you believe in and will wait for de Blasio's big plans out there.

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/467-Jerome-St-Brooklyn-NY-11207/30639992_zpid/

It's been out there for 3+ months (maybe for a reason) but they just cut the price and might accept well below ask. You could live in the 2 bedroom basement apt and rent the 4 and 3 out - you'd get at least $4000/month if the interior is decent. With 20% down, conventional mortgage, 5% vacancy, 10% maintenance, $600/month in water/gas/electric, you could cash flow around $650/month, $7800/year. About a 7.5-8% cash on cash, nothing special. But you live rent free, build equity, get some cash flow and hope for appreciation. Or you FHA it and close for 15K upfront or so and get no cash flow.

2. East Crown Heights/Weeksville - definitely potential for appreciation out here. Also been on the market for 3+ months but the interiors look really nice and renovated.

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1596-Lincoln-Pl-...

You could house hack this one - live in one of the bedrooms, rent out the other 2 and then rent out the other 3 bedroom apartment. I'd guess $4500/month rent minimum, with the same assumptions as above - 5% vacancy, 10% maintenance, $500/month in utilities (one less unit), you'd cash flow like $750/month and $9000/yr with a 20% down payment, against a 7% cash on cash or so, but same thing, live rent free, build equity, in an up and coming area. And similar to above, an FHA loan would close it for $20K down and kill the cash flow.

3. East Flatbush, bank-owned, potential fix and hold. Some appreciation potential.

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/611-Linden-Blvd-Brooklyn-NY-11203/30658529_zpid/

Could house hack this one similar to above. Should get $5000/month or more in rents when fixed up. 5% vac, 10% maintenance, self-manage, $400/mth utilities. Might have to put 175k in for down and closing and reno, but could eventually cash flow $1750 a month, 21k a year. Higher barrier for entry on this one. But actually not too far from where I live and close to the hospital and a lot of upcoming development.

Are these great deals? Probably not. Do you get to live in Park Slope or Cobble Hill? No. But with a little creativity, there is some cash flow, some real opportunities for real appreciation and halfway decent options for buyers who want to stay in Brooklyn and live rent-free. 

And I see similar listings for Eastern Brooklyn and parts of Queens and the Bronx fairly regularly as well. If you're on the ball, you can snag the ones that pop up occasionally that are better than these 3.

Good luck!