New to REI from New York / NYC

[Gregory Mizzi]

My name is Greg, I am 30yrs old and I live in NYC, specifically Manhattan. However, I was born in Queens and lived in Brooklyn for a few years. I was born, raised, and lived in NYC all my life. I have zero experience in real estate. My parents have always rented and I currently rent. My main job is in Office Operations for a tech company, which involves some commercial real estate projects whereby I work with the vendors and contractors among my other duties. Ideally, I want to purchase my own home and grow my portfolio so that I can retire early. My current goal is to be financially independent by the age of 40.

I currently have a $70K stock portfolio that usually does very well, market downturns notwithstanding, plus ~$30K in unvested employee stock options and a continuous employee stock purchase plan. Overall, I should have ~$100K invested by next year assuming there is no crash (though I do think there will be one in the next few years considering all the stimulus money being "printed" but no where to really spend it yet, among other reasons). My current goal is to continue investing regardless of volatility, buying low during a dip and holding.

When it comes to real estate specifically, I watch videos and read articles about how people become much more well-to-do more quickly through real estate than other forms of investing if done correctly. After watching YouTube videos about real estate from users, such as Graham Stephan, I was eventually suggested a BiggerPockets video about analyzing a deal by doing an in person walkthrough and the rest is history. Typically, I listen to the BiggerPockets podcast when I can and I have two BiggerPockets books, one by Brandon Turner and the other by David Greene.

With all of that out of the way, my real estate journey is just beginning. My current state is what you might call uneasy for a number of reasons. One, the biggest hurdle in my opinion is the NYC housing market. It is overpriced and overvalued. I am not comfortable investing here. My current paycheck affords my rent (which is 50% of my net income), which leaves little room to save between food, utilities, helping my wife through college, etc. What I do "save" goes straight into my portfolio. I am, however, debt-free* (insofar as I pay my credit cards off immediately as I use them for everything to accumulate points, therefore I carry no balance or incur interest charges). I am also shooting for a promotion at my job which would require me relocating to Denver, CO. Which, if it does not work out, I plan on moving anyway because, despite living here all my life, I do not like NYC. Therefore I have considered long distance real estate investing (which is covered in one of the books), and waiting until I move out of the city so that I may have more disposable income to work with. I have been mulling over some strategies that could possibly work for me in the near future, but that is for another discussion/thread.

Thank you all in advance for taking the time to read and respond to this. My notifications are on and I look forward to being more active.