Purchasing property in NY/NJ

[Maxwell Howard]

My sister is moving to NY and was going to rent, I would much rather purchase a home and she will pay the mortgage as well as have another tenant pay rent that we will split. I know nothing about NY and would like to know what areas would be safe for my sister, profitable for us both (especially if we decided to sell in a few years), and convenient to commute to work. I have just started to scrape the surface of the market there and am not opposed to her living in NJ if there is a reasonable property and convenient any ideas on this whole situation or questions to clarify. Also this will be my first property not looking to go above 200,00$. Please any info is much appreciated!