New Investor from Queens/NYC

[Ben Lanman]

Hello Bigger Pockets!

My name is Ben, and I'm looking to begin my real estate investing career. I want to use real estate investing to diversify my savings and develop passive income streams, and hope to have fun and learn as much as I can in the process!

For a bit of background on myself, I'm 28 years old and live in Long Island City, Queens in NYC. I've lived in the New York metro area my whole life, having grown up in the suburbs and attending college at NYU. I currently work full-time at a consulting firm in the city, where I've been/progressed "through the ranks" a bit since starting in 2012. My salary is pretty comfortable at this point and I'm not a lavish spender, so I've able to save a bit over the past several years and have a decent amount of capital to work with for real estate investing.

In terms of my ideal property type and strategy, I'm looking to start off with buy and hold rentals (SFR/condo most likely), though the short term rental market has also piqued my interest. I'm planning to invest out of state given the expense of my local market, and with a relatively demanding full time job will need to be more of a "passive" investor.

I'm definitely still in "learning" mode (reading avidly, listening to podcasts/audiobooks, and doing practice deal analyses), but my goal is to purchase at least one property in 2019, and maybe more if the right deals come along!

Looking forward to connecting and networking with others in the BP community! If i can be of help to anyone please do not hesitate to reach out.

Best,

Ben

[Eric Roth]

Hi Ben & Stephen, I'm in a similar spot to you both. Just moved from Manhattan to Long Island City with my wife about a month ago and am looking for my first deal, likely in Queens, in early 2019. I still need to set up some of the infrastructure Stephen mentioned (CPA, Lawyer, etc.) but have a lender and mortgage pre-approval, and with my day job in commercial real estate lending I have a solid background in deal analysis. I've met with a good investor-friendly broker in our market that may be a good reference for you guys too. Happy to meet up with you guys in the area if you'd like to bounce some ideas off each other!