Newbie from Denver, CO moving to Troy, NY this summer

[Brett Pirie]

My wife and I have owned our primary residence, a small condo in Denver's Cap Hill neighborhood, for four years.  It was our first real estate purchase with the plan to hold on to it as a rental when we decide to move on.  Due to the increase in value (according to zillow), selling it sounds like a much better idea.  

Our long term goal has been to own several rental properties generating a reasonable cash flow.  

I am currently enjoying being a stay-at-home-dad for our 8 month old daughter while working on business projects such as developing an app and a couple of small products. Now I'm adding in REI for the reasons you'll see below.

My wife has been accepted to a graduate program at RPI in Troy, NY.  She is grew up about 20 min away, received her undergrad from RPI and has family in the area.  Chances are that we move back east this summer.  

The plan was to sell our Denver condo and rent for 1-1.5 years in Troy.  For the heck of it I started looking at properties in Troy and realized that maybe we could buy a multifamily building, live in one unit while renting out the rest. 

I've found several interesting properties and have started running cash flow numbers on them. I know some of my assumptions will be way off, but right now I'm excited because I can see some positive cash flow. I've followed Chad Carson's post on cash flow to build my spreadsheet, so I think I have a good start on including everything, such as taxes, maintenance and CapEx.

I've been to RPI several times, but have spent very little time in Troy off campus.  Does anyone know much about Troy?  I understand the downtown area is coming back, but that some of the neighborhoods are not doing so well.  A family member in the area says between Canal St and Federal St is becoming a desirable area.  I've been reading neighborhood websites and the local paper, how else can I research the area?  What info am I looking for?  

I see my two big next tasks as develop my cash flow spreadsheet and learn as much as I can about Troy. I'm looking for help to poke holes in my ideas. Is my spreadsheet accurate? How do I analyze multifamily deals? Is Troy even worth considering for REI? Thanks for any help pointing me in direction of finding this info!

Looking forward to contributing to this community!  

-Brett