Hello everyone, my name is Anthony Poulin and I live in Westchester County in New York. I am happy to make my introduction to the community. First off, apologies if this post is too long or has too much information for a first post, I am just trying top get as much put there in hopes it connects with as many people as possible.

About me..

I am an attorney in New York and New Jersey and for the past 15 years worked my way up and became an owner/partner in a multi-state law firm. While not my main area of practice I represented a Brooklyn credit union lender, some buyers/sellers and a few landlords in real estate transactions and rent arrears cases.

While we had successes and some failures along the way I ultimately concluded that I wanted to do something different with my life and cashed out of the business. I am looking to begin the process of a 10+ year plan to build out a sustainable REI enterprise which would ultimately provide me with significant passive income and net worth to make a legacy business for my family. In the meantime, as this is built I will continue to earn income elsewhere so immediate cash flow is not necessary, and long term growth is prioritized.

I freely admit that despite some of my other qualifications in business, I am a novice in the world of real estate investment. I may even think I know just enough to be dangerous to myself. Which is probably worse than knowing nothing. I joined this community because I want to get my hands dirty and not just meet people online but form some real connections and try to provide value back to those that are willing to offer me advise and guidance, and even encouragement.

So, this is my current situation:

Back in 2020 I was one of the fortunate ones who purchased real estate when prices were still low (compared to today) and interest rates where at 3% or below. It was my first ever purchase and I focused on a obtaining a property in the Scarsdale School District. At the time I never thought of it as something that would be a rental or a REI platform. But as of today, I am strongly considering converting it into a single-family rental because based on some Zillow comps I've seen I could get upwards of $8000.00 per month which is more than double my mortgage, taxes and operating expenses. More importantly though, due to the extreme property appreciation over the past 4+ years I have somewhere between $600-$750K in equity in the property. I am hoping this gives me a head start in funding the initial investments.

I also have some high balance liquid assets, but I am putting all or most those funds into other investment vehicles to diversify my holdings such as stocks, bonds, etc. I was possibly considering REIT assets to put some investment in as well, but I do not know much about them. Does anyone else incorporate these into their strategies?

I know I want to do this but am suffering from a bit of analysis paralysis trying to figure out if I should jump right in and do small multi-family project or just do a small deal to get my feet wet where if I mess up it wont derail the whole endeavor. If I want to do buy and hold rental first or a BRRRR or Fix and Flip? What city or areas should I look at and what should I avoid…and probably about 100 other questions.

I welcome any feedback the online community may have; I am sure several of you once has the same uncertainty in your mind. If there are any community members that are local to Westchester County or the surrounding area and have time to meet up and share experiences and tips, or even have projects themselves that I could provide some help within exchange for the guidance please let me know!

Local Events

I am eager to attend some events near me and I did not see anything coming up soon on the Events and Meet Up page, but I did see this online from the New York Real Estate Investors Association (REIA) and am likely going to check it out:

NYC 6th Real Estate Investors Expo

https://www.meetup.com/new-york-real-estate-investors-association/events/302291858/?eventOrigin=group_upcoming_events

Is anyone else in the community attending this? If so, please let me know I’d be happy to make time to find you and say hello.

@Scott Trench and @Rene Hosman – thanks for the first post tips

Westchester County, New York

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