House hacking: New York City neighbourhoods

[Lloyd Preece]

Hi, has anyone had any good house hacks in New York City of the nearby areas in NJ? Best deals I can seem to find are 3 bedrooms in Astoria, prospect park surrounding area, Harlem and jersey city. Anyone have any good experiences in this market?

[Account Closed]

In 2017 I purchased my first rental property in the Bronx--specifically Morris Park. The home sits on a 2500 SF lot, and it is a 3 bedroom duplex over a 2 bedroom loft. Both units were gut renovated in 2017 and have in unit washer dryers. At the time I paid $630k for the home (post renovation), today it is worth about $850. The increase in value has been driven by hype around a new train station going at the end of the street. What I learned from this deal was 1) buy in a good area, not an area that is gentrifying. You want to be in a nice neighborhood to start. 2) buy a property that is in good condition. Mine was a gut renovation and I purchased it from the contractor. This has allowed me to attract amazing tenants and pay less in repairs and maintenance. It was also an easy starter investment. There is a steep enough learning curve with managing a "business" (taxes, lawyers, implementing systems that will allow you to scale quickly, even a 2 fam has a steep learning curve). 3) House hacking is great, I lived for free for a year. 4) Parking in NYC is EXTREMELY valuable. My house has a garage and driveway. I charge the tenants for parking and I rent the garage out for a significant amount of additional income. 5) because I lived in the home my mortgage rate is 3.375% on a 30 year fixed with 20% down, and I no longer live there. I have since gone on to purchase additional properties and investments. But, I wish I could house hack every purchase hahah . . . I could go on for days. House hacking in NYC is very possible and, if you watch your numbers, very profitable. I now return 8% a year on that property and have built significant equity that I am allowed to draw upon for $$$--or, maybe I will sell for the right number. You can do it and you should do it. good luck!