Finding tenants in NYC, lower income

[Kevin Ha]

Hi everyone,

I have just went under contract on a home in East Flat bush / Canarsie area in Brooklyn. I understand that the location is lower middle class but it looks like a faily decent neighborhood, especially somewhere to start. Now I am looking to figure out how to best screen my tenants early so I would have the lowest amount of vacancy as possible. Listening to @Brandon Turner (ask BP podcast), He goes and says that he won't accept a tenants that make less then 3x the rental. However, it seems like the rental income in the neighborhood would fall around $1.5-1.8k, which would make the monthly income about $4.5k on the low end which is about $54k year. In the podcast, he talks about his rentals to be about $600, which obviously would be easier to reach as that means the avg yearly income he requires is about 21k. which is below the poverty line in my city. Does it make sense for me to follow his standards in a city and area like mine? Will is scale properly? I'm asking because I hear all the time that trying to invest in NYC, the game is different and they always speak about investing out of state, a couple of hour drive away. I just want to make sure it makes sense with the market that is available as I love NYC and always dreamed of owning a home here and it would be great if I can make the right decisions to ensure success before I focus out of state. Thank you.

[Brian Adzadi]

@Kevin Ha

Actually, East Flatbush/ Canarsie area is more middle class area and depending on the type of property you bought, you can make some serious bank. That area is next to a healthcare hub, there is Kings County Hospital, Downstate Medical Center, Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center and Brookdale Hospital. All of these places train future doctors, and these future doctors need a place to stay. This is where your property would come in. Do not short yourself in this neighborhood by renting to lower income people because that is the only type of people you can rent to. I have lived in the Flatbush area all my life and with gentrification going on in this area, you can choosey in the types of tenants you want. So if I were you, stick to Brandon Turner's requirements to weed out the bad apples.