Looking for my first deal in New York City - House Flipping

[Edward Yau]

Hi everyone,

I’m Edward, and this is my first time posting on BiggerPockets. I’m currently based in San Francisco, California. I started flipping houses in 2022 and absolutely fell in love with it.

I’m currently looking into moving to New York City, where I would like to learn about the market and continue flipping houses. While I've been doing research, I would appreciate a local's hands-on perspective on the state of the market and potential areas to target. I am considering starting with Staten Island and Long Island, as they seem to have relatively lower barriers to entry in terms of pricing. Any insights & tips would be appreciated!

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I’m looking forward to chatting with you all soon!

[Abel Curiel]

Quote from @Edward Yau:

Hi everyone,

I’m Edward, and this is my first time posting on BiggerPockets. I’m currently based in San Francisco, California. I started flipping houses in 2022 and absolutely fell in love with it.

I’m currently looking into moving to New York City, where I would like to learn about the market and continue flipping houses. While I've been doing research, I would appreciate a local's hands-on perspective on the state of the market and potential areas to target. I am considering starting with Staten Island and Long Island, as they seem to have relatively lower barriers to entry in terms of pricing. Any insights & tips would be appreciated!

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I’m looking forward to chatting with you all soon!

 Hello Edward and welcome to the BP forums!

Congrats on your early success... have you been finding your own deals or are you sifting through deals from wholesalers, investors, agents, etc.?

As far as tips, I'd recommend looking into the high-volume markets within any county of interest. Mainly, areas that see a higher turnover of properties sold and actively for sale. 

Areas with lower sales volume and inventory are often highly desirable but provide few potential opportunities for flips and have a ton of competition. Some of those local competitors will pay all cash, site unseen, with title issues.

This is a numbers game, so find the zip codes/neighborhoods with a lot of market activity (i.e., the most dots on a Zillow map search) and delve deeper to see if it's an area of interest.

Lastly, when looking up properties, be mindful of taxes. Long Island and other NYC suburbs (i.e. Westchester, Putnam and Rockland Counties, NJ, etc.) have lower price points but can have property taxes 2-3x what you'd find within the 5 boroughs.

All the best!

Abel