Newbie! Manhattan/NYC Resident

[Ilona Kovacs]

Hi All!

I am from NYC (downtown Manhattan)

I am completely new to the investing arena.

I am not planning on investing in my local area but am looking for an area to invest in.

My challenges are the following:

1- I am looking for a niche with a high return (my goal is to cover my expenses, fund my current business (I'm in the food business) and have passive income for later in life. Unfortunately, I do live in NYC and my husband and I have very high monthly expenses (approx $35k/mo)

2- I, personally, am an introvert as well. The idea of knocking on doors and cold calling is not what I would like to do. Is there any niche in real estate investing that wouldn't be that aggressive??

3- What areas should we start in? I thought of Brooklyn or parts of Queens, but maybe what we should is go way outside of our area?

Any advice would be helpful.

Thanks!

ilona

[Trevor Ewen]

@Ilona Kovacs 

Welcome.

Always good to see New Yorkers on the forum. I will address your points in the order you specified:

1) It's hard to get heavy returns right away, most of the best passive empires are built slowly. $35k/mo is a very high cost of living, and although there may be good reasons for this high cost, I would recommend looking at areas where you can cut expenses out of your life. In order to generate only $5000 of passive income with real estate, I would have to invest in nearly 17 single family homes in Memphis or Indianapolis. In the short term, this would be nothing short of a miracle. But it wouldn't be that hard for me to cut 1/7th of my monthly budget. Go with the easy wins first, and then use the money for investment.

2) It's good to know this about yourself. I would encourage you to do business with a partner who can fill this gap for you. This is definitely a people business, but there are many opportunities for quieter skills, such as administration and analysis. 

3) Brooklyn and Queens are very overpriced right now. The Bronx is the only borough I would think of touching, but even that is rough. If you are still intent on staying near NYC, I would recommend looking and building relationships in Connecticut and also New Jersey. Property taxes can still kill a deal in those states, but there are more undervalued areas.

Good luck. Please reach out should you need anything.