Intro from an Architect in NYC

[Elliot Grochal]

Hello BiggerPocket members,

My name is Elliot, I am newly licensed architect based in New York City. I have been working in architecture for over 7 years, doing a wide variety of projects including theme parks, department stores, mixed-use residential, and corporate offices.

I have always been interested in houses since I was a kid. On most Sundays my father and I would go to 3-6 open houses just to walk through the space and see the details/history. I suppose that’s where my love of architecture began. Now that I have been in the industry long enough, I am realizing that architects play backseat to developers when it comes to the control of a project. Seeing this paradigm shift in the industry has made me more curious about development, and after reading several books (The Real Estate Game by William Poorvu, and Confessions of a Real Estate Entrpreneur by Jim Randle) I am very interested in moving to the development side, while using my architectural background to my advantage.

My first goal (thank you for the articles BP), is to buy a 2-4 unit building in the NYC area with a first time homebuyer FHA loan, and hopefully use a 203K loan for the renovation, and use it for my first positive cash-flow property. I am also interested in Philly area, but am nervous about doing a long distance investment (although Philly is only 2 hours away). I need to read more about long distance investing, as I know there are a few articles on BP about this.

I am also interested in teaming with developers in need of architectural services.

My question to BiggerPocket members is first, has anyone done a deal like this in the NYC area, and second, does anyone have broker/agent recommendations to help my find a property like this? Thanks, and happy to be a part of the BP community!