New Investor in Brooklyn, NY - curious of people's views on units

[William Gan]

Hi all,

My name is William and I currently live/work in Brooklyn, NY. I moved to NYC about 4 years ago, and have been renting so far, but realized financials are much better on the owner-operator side. 

My goal for my first property is solely to decrease my net "rent" (i.e. off-set my rent burn via equity build-up). I think I would then either 1) continue buying more units in NYC (breakeven cash flow, but high rate of mortgage pay-down) or 2) try my hand at out-of-state investing with a turnkey operator (much higher CoCR, but different risks). 

My long-term goal is to make real estate a passive source of income to my full-time work, so I am ok with trading off better returns for lower complexity on my end. Would greatly appreciate any general advice experienced folks have for starting off, as well as any specific thoughts on the topics below. 

@Russell Brazil and @Llewelyn A - would especially appreciate your thoughts, as your philosophy of wealth creation via mortgage paydown gave me some social proof / confidence in this approach. 

• 1) A key assumption of the mortgage-paydown philosophy is that real estate and rent will hold its value over time (if not grow). How do other NYC investors think about hedging against a market / rent crash? 
• 2) What are the downsides to consider when starting off with a unit as opposed to a multi-family? As a first-time landlord, owning a condo unit appears to have several advantages over owning a building - e.g. major CapEx projects undertaken by the building instead of you, less tenants to manage, and an easier time getting a conventional loan.
• 3) How are people's views on Flatbush/Sunnyside/Jackson Heights? Sunnyside Yards seems like major upside potential, but curious if people think property values already reflect that. Flatbush seemed like it would be a logical extension of the Prospect Lefferts Garden boom, but for some reason people flocked to Bushwick / Bed-Stuy instead. 

Thanks a lot! And looking forward to connecting with you all :) 

William