Long Island NY - what do you look for in a buy and hold property?

[Michael O.]

Hello BP - first time poster here!

I'm curious as to what my fellow LI buy and hold investors search for in a prospective investment. Recently, it has been hard to find enticing prospects and I'm beginning to think that I should lower my required return expectations given where we currently sit in the market cycle if I want to continue investing on LI.

I'm still relatively new to RE investing. I've had success with my first buy and hold property in Suffolk county. It was a targeted purchase using the principles laid out in HOLD: How to Find, Buy, and Rent Houses for Wealth. The property delivers an 8-10% annual cash on cash return and has ridden the recent market upswing and appreciated about 25-30% in value since purchase (March 2016). 

That being said, I've been searching for something that would deliver a similar cash on cash return (not concerned with appreciation as that would just be icing on the cake) located in Suffolk/Nassau. Any input from fellow BP'ers would be greatly appreciated!

[Craig Schneider]

I ended up doing 2 properties in a 1031 and purchasing a 14 unit in Huntington.  Typically in Suffolk, we do not sell any cashflow properties.  

We have been looking for more properties, they are very hard to come by.