New Investor on Long Island

[Brian DiMarco]

Hey all,

New to the forum, wanted to give 

I'm currently living in Suffolk County on Long Island in New York. I'm working as a research chemist at a local lab. I'm currently looking to purchase my first property in the area. 

Me

So I'm a research chemist working at Brookhaven National Lab. I've essentially been in school since 2006, having gone the graduate school route. The job I'm currently at is the first to pay me a good salary (grad student/postdoc salaries are normally <$25k) and I've built up a decent savings over the past year a half. Looking to good investment opportunities. I'm a big numbers guy and I love learning as much as possible. 

Plan

My plan at the moment is to try to find a multifamily home for ~$350k and apply for an FHA loan while putting down ~5%. I'm planning to live in one half of the apartment for a full year while renting the second half and afterwords moving on to another location. With my current income, I should be able to easily support the entirety of the month mortgage payments, taxes, etc ( est $2,200 - 2,500), so vacancy, although not great, wouldn't kill me. As far as tenets go, I'm planning to target graduate students and postdoc from the local university (Stony Brook) and the national lab where I work. From talking to landlords in the area (including my landlord), people from the lab are particularly good renters since they generally have good incomes and are responsible. I also have the insiders connection there. As far as the property itself, I'm willing to buy a run down place and living in it while making the needed repairs. Plan would be to live in one area, fix the other and rent it, then fix where I'm living next.

Although I haven't spoken to them yet, I have a lot of family (a lot) living on long island, so I'm hopeful I'd be able to find good plumbers, electricians, etc in the area. 

Concerns

The only worry is what happens at the end of my contract. I'm confident I will be able to find work; I've not had problems with the job market in the past and unemployment rates among chemist are low. However, it's obviously a risk, but no risk no reward. 

Questions

Anyone know any good places to look up properties? I'm on the classics of zillow, etc, and I'm also keeping my eyes open while driving. Any info on locations would be appreciated. 

Any additional information about the area, or