Live in an expensive area -- lost trying to find where to invest

[Account Closed]

Hi Everyone!

I'm a new to real estate investing looking to focus on multifamily properties. I currently live in Manhattan and grew up in New Jersey and Connecticut. Unfortunately, the areas I lived in and are familiar with are much too expensive for my current budget and are mostly single family homes.

Does anyone have recommendation on areas to look in the tri-state area that are multifamily friendly without breaking the bank and are generally low crime areas?

Would also welcome any and all advice on how to look for other areas when your current areas is too expensive to buy investment properties. Things like how you search for the area, what you analyze, etc. would be very helpful!

Thanks!

[Andrew Frowiss]

Hi @Account Closed here are my thoughts on your situation. 

If you can't invest in your market, then I encourage you to expand the areas you are comfortable investing in, or change your strategy. Only until you are ready to switch to a better one.

I got into real estate investing when I was 19 by wholesaling properties. I didn't have any capital, but I spent all my time learning how to find deals, and get them under contract. Even though I didn't have the funds to purchase the property, I knew plenty of Investors that didn't have deals, but had the funds and experience. I would either wholesale the house to the Investor for them to finish their deal, and I would get paid up front, or partner with them on the deal to see it through till the end. I learned a lot and was able to get my foot in the door. If your end goal is to invest in multi family, it can also be done, but that is a whole other game to learn. 

You would still be responsible to finding deals, but you would just focus on apartment complexes and bigger projects. The challenge at this point is funding the project. Look into syndicating apartment complexes to see how others manage to do this.

Perhaps start out wholesaling smaller deals until you feel comfortable enough to move onto something bigger.

Otherwise you could start out by investing out of state in a market with affordable purchase prices. There are places in Texas where you can buy single family properties for around $200k and 4 plexes for around $385k and cash flow with decent appreciation. You could do this till you have a sizable portfolio and 1031 them into something larger.

I wish you the best of luck in your future investments!