Investing in Corona, Queens (NYC)

[Madelin Mendoza]

Hoping to connect with real estate investors in the Corona, Queens NY area and gain some advice/insight. My husband and I will soon begin our investment search around mid-October. Neither of us are real estate savvy, but we know we want to invest in real estate and buy a multi-family home. We plan to live in one of the units and rent the rest (eventually buying a 2nd rental property and the end goal is moving into our "forever" home). We're both born and raised in Corona so we know this area very well.

I've been doing a ton of research to try and feel as prepared as possible to ensure we get a good investment. But the listings I see on Zillow and Realtor.com seem awfully steep and not many seem like it'd provide good ROI and a healthy cash-flow. But investors in this area, what are your thoughts? What would you consider a good deal in the market right now? Feeling a bit over my head here!

[Charles Xia]

Hi Madelin,

I was also born and raised in Queens, NY and lived in various neighborhoods. If you are targeting Corona you will probably have to pay some money out of pocket because rent for 1 unit in a 2-family would not cover the entirety of the mortgage.

First, work out the numbers.
Let me point you to a mortgage calculator to start.
https://www.google.com/search?q=mortgage+calculator&oq=mortgage+&aqs=chrome.0.35i39j69i57j46j0l4j69i61.1156j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

If you find a home for $500k, you put 20% down ($100k) for a mortgage of $400k. Assume your mortgage interest rate is 4% for a 30 year fixed which is a little higher than the standard rate currently (its safer to assume a higher rate) The monthly mortgage payment is about $1910 just for the mortgage. This excludes property taxes. Property taxes in NYC is about 1% of the property value for the year. so 1% of $500k is about $5k. To add it to the monthly mortgage payment ($5000/12 = $416.67) Totaling a monthly payment $2326.67. This assumes you find a 2 family house for $500k which is highly unlikedly in corona. I start at $500k because its easier to scale. If you saw a $1M house you can double the monthly payment to estimate $4653.34.

 I would say to start figure out what your budget is and what you and your husband can afford. Find a good real estate agent that knows how to work with investors and familiar with the numbers and rent roll for the property to cash flow. 

And always, dont rush. Take your time to understand the market. No deal is better than a bad deal!

Happy Investing,

Charles