Recommendation of a good area to buy and hold near New York City?

[Leo Hernandez]

Hi Everyone,

I am new to the forum. Looking forward to learning from the great BP community!!!

I live in NYC and are new to investing in real estate. I had a bad experience investing in the city and lost money in 2009. Haven't invested in RE since then. In hindsight the asset was too large for me. 

I am currently focused on finding a good area to buy and hold. Area has to be close (up to two hours driving time, ideally one) to NYC. I am looking to invest in $100,000 to $150,000 single family properties.

Any recommendations of a good market where I can find properties in OK condition with those characteristics? Everything I have seen close to NYC in that price range are fixer uppers in really bad shape.

Any recommendation regarding area and any views on local cap rates would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your comments and help.

[Alan Brown]

Hey!  a big welcome to BP!  

I've been living in Connecticut the last couple of years working on a couple of projects and commuting to the West...  I recently had to roll money from a 1031 Exchange on a property I sold in Colorado, and I only had 45 days to identify my replacement properties.. so I was scrambling hard!! Being closest to Kingston, NY, and Poughkeepsie, I focused on them to find multi family properties.  There are some out there in your price range for sure...

I really liked Kingston and the waterfront Rondout (sp?)area... I bet you could find something there that doesn't need too much work. The town is definitely coming back, which is what I waas looking for:  something with upside.  But that will provide pressure on prices eventually, obviously.   It seems like there's a community of people from NYC that are looking for affordable places to find a second home, and Bard College up by Rhinebeck supplies art graduates that like the lower prices of Kingston to establish themselves after art school.  Also I guess there's a bus that goes to NYC every day and it's packed with commuters!    

I tend to look for things that do need work so I can get them for less and can value add... 

Poughkeepsie seemed slightly rougher to me, but on one trip there, I got the feeling the town might be coming back.  the walking bridge across the hudson is apparently NY state's most popular state park!! 

Saugerties is pretty sweet, and might be affordable, too.  The town is in good shape, seems family oriented.

I imagine all these places with vibrant boat activity--if I lived in NYC and could afford a boat slip, I'd love to be able to motor (or sail) my boat up to one of these little towns to get away on some weekends!  

good luck!  I might be interested in partnering on something in there, so keep me in mind...