Real Estate Deal Analysis & Advice
Market News & Data
General Info
Real Estate Strategies

Landlording & Rental Properties
Real Estate Professionals
Financial, Tax, & Legal


Real Estate Classifieds
Reviews & Feedback
Updated over 8 years ago on . Most recent reply

My plan of action, am I close?
Hey Gang,
I've been diving into seriously learning my local market for about a week now and I have come up with a to do list about my local area. I would love some feedback to see if i am on the right track.
I am from the Schenectady NY area and would like to buy a small multifamily property in Scotia. It is close to where I work (I'm going to owner occupy), has housing prices in my range and is in my opinion, a nicer part of town with a great school district. Because of this, I would like to focus on this part of town and find a deal.
I am going to:
-Find out the boundaries and block of territory I want to buy in.
-Drive every single street in the neighborhood and write down every multifamily property I can identify.
-Take that list and look up the owners, looking for people that own multiple properties.
-Call them and ask to talk about their experiences in the area and what they rent their properties for and what utilities tenants usually pay.
-Nail down a close market rent for the area and get a better sense of the realistic expenses
-Analyze 1 deal everyday until I get comfortable doing it.
-Talk with local lenders and see what rates and loan amounts I can get.
-Find the property and make an offer.
Here are my 2 questions:
Is there an easier way to find this information out or am I on the right track? I want to be able to boil this list down so that I can put it on a calendar and tackle it bit by bit, over a months time, until I get it completed.
I have finally let my family know of my intentions and their initial reaction was to put me down and say that my goal was unrealistic for someone as young as I am and that rental properties are so much work that I will not be able to handle it. Any advice on how to handle the negative people when just starting out?
Thanks again guys.
Most Popular Reply

Two thoughts
- You can "drive" down every street using google street view. Might be safer and cheaper.
- You might want to offer to take the investor out to coffee. Most love talking about what they do, but maybe not so much to a random person on the phone.