Is this a good investment?

[Mathieu Roegiers]

Hi all, 

New to BP, and heard on one of their podcasts that you could post your investment, to get feedback on the project. Not sure this is the right place, but I'd love to know if this is a good investment (numbers wise), as I seem to be far from positive cashflow like I hear on so many podcasts... Here we go:

Bought a 1 bed in Parkchester NY (about 11 miles from Central Park). The current commute to Central Park is more than 1 hr, but a high speed train station right across where I bought the studio, is being built (and will be finished in 2 years). It will connect Parkchester to Manhattan in 15 min or less. Prices have been rising steadily there since the project got announced. 

Numbers: Purchase price 165 000 USD. Broker fee plus repairs all together 10 000 USD. Total cost : 175 000 USD. 

Rent: 1700 to 1750 USD per year (inflation adjusted every year). Net per month after all costs/taxes = 900 to 950 USD (about 6,2% Net ROI for now, will increase over time with inflation).

I paid about 60 000 USD cash, and managed to take a loan of about 115 000 USD at 3% interest per year for 5 years, as I wanted to be loan free asap. (I could not get a loan in the US (for a reasonable rate) as I'm not a resident nor a citizen, so refinancing is not possible). 

I want to step up my real estate portfolio big time, and I don't know if I'm doing it correctly. So far I have a house in the UAE (rented for 5 years, pays for itself but the market is down since I bought, refinancing not beneficial), apartment in Marbella Spain (rented for 2 years, pays for itself too), house in Bali and since 5 months this 1 bed in NY. I'm very curious as to what the forum thinks number wise of the NY investment (there will most probably be a pretty good increase in value of the property, but I invest with the initial thought of never selling and cash flowing for life. I'm also aware you cannot count on capital gains, no one can see into the future). 

There is a possibility to refinance the place in Parkchester (since in the US, I own it free and clear, my loan is in Europe), to buy two more of these for example. 

As for my personal situation, I'm 37, currently in a high earning job that gives me loots of free time. Even though my salary is above 15 000 USD, for 2 weeks of work per month, and my monthly costs of living are quite low, I want to get rid of this job asap and focus on real estate more and more. Looking to be financially free within 8 years, and the aim is to grow my portfolio exponentially. 

Does this NY investment make sense? 

Thank you for all the insights and tips, sorry for the long post :)