All Forum Posts by: Bruce McKenty

I was wondering about this to @Gil Happy

Any luck in finding the data?

@Martin Grizzanti that's odd. There certainly seemed to be a significant amount of interest at the open house.

I'm looking in what I would call, in my limited experience, B class areas. So south 19th ward, Charlotte, Northland-Lyceum, and North Winton in the city as well as areas of Gates, Greece, and Irondequoit.

@JD DiGiacomandrea I think that we might be talking about different properties? I met up with my realtor as we had a few showings to go to and brought up that this had gone under contract but he said he hadn't heard that and, when we arrived, the open house was going as scheduled.

So I did go through the house and, unfortunately, it is in too rough of a shape for me. I don't think that I have the capital necessary to bring it up to a decent level. The roof and garage also seemed like they would need work in the next few years. Just too many variables for #1, I think. 

Neither of the others I saw looked very promising either. Back to looking.

@Sara Abernethy Thanks very much for your well wishes! More apprehensive/cautious right now as opposed to excited as I really don't want to make a mistake as my first investment. It wouldn't be the end of the world and I am only looking at properties that I could carry with income from my 9-5 even if I had no renters but still I want it to cash flow.

Those are definitely some factors that I will have to take into my considerations. I really appreciate your input! How much does turnover cost typically run you for your properties that you rent to students?

@JD DiGiacomandrea it already went under contract!? I didn't even have a shot... wasn't meant to be, I guess. How do you know that it did? It still seems to be listed as for sale on both trulia and zillow. Maybe they are just taking sometime to be updated.

Also, why weren't the numbers working for you? Not enough cash flow?

Thanks very much for your well wishes as well.

Take 2:

Hey Guys!

I have been looking for my first house with an end goal to house hack (because of the lower down-payment) and have positive projected cash flow. I am going to see this property tomorrow:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/39-41-Congress-Ave-Rochester-NY-14611/30895304_zpid/

From what I understand, it will probably sell for about 135K. If I got it for that, PITI should run ~$1200. From conversations as well as looking at the current listings for rentals in the area, it seems that you can get just shy of $500 per room (when renting to students) so the total would be ~$2400 per month if all 5 bedrooms were rented (given that I take one of the bedrooms). In which case, it should positively cash flow.

So what does everyone think? Are my numbers realistic?

Thanks very much in advance for your help! I really appreciate it!

@Margaret Buoncora thanks for your addition! Interesting to see this issue in Dutchess county as well. It would seem your experience shows that changes outside of investor control can much more easily squeeze/eliminate profits because of the high tax costs. I.e. much more risk. Would you say that is an accurate characterization? 

Unfortunately, I am woefully unequipped to answer your question. Hopefully someone with extensive experience with Poughkeepsie will see this and answer. I will say, though, there isn't a rush to defend the Upstate market so that may be telling...

@Mike Cumbie I'm glad that I'm not missing something when I am thinking that the taxes are outrageous.

I knew that there were some exemptions/benefits for owner-occupants but if someone wanted to grow a portfolio past a single unit owner-occupancy, how is the Rochester market, for instance, attractive?

I am not sure if this topic has been discussed specifically or not but this piqued my interest in the topic and I couldn't find anything addressing it specifically. (Please excuse me if it has already been addressed and if you could post a link to that topic, I would appreciate it!)

At risk of revealing a new shade of green, I knew taxes up here were high but I wasn't aware, as I'm sure that many of you are, that they were the highest in the nation (in terms of percent of home value)! In case others were in the dark with me, I wanted to share and get everyone's thoughts.

Especially with populations in Upstate stagnating/declining (see an article on that here), the long-term viability of investment in these markets might be called into question, especially when comparing to other areas around the country.

That being said, these issues are not a new phenomenon. Most likely, those of you reading this are well aware of these market factors and choose to or are looking to invest in Upstate. Why not take your money elsewhere?

I'll start:

I fall into the "am looking to invest" category. I am from the Rochester area originally and have family here. I am tied here for ~2-3 more years for personal reasons and am not sure what I will do when those issues are cleared up. Further, I am looking to owner occupy because of the lower down payment options. Therefore, as long as I can find a deal that cash flows in the short term, I figure that getting my feet wet is better done sooner rather than later. Even if I decide to leave the area, I'll have options when that time comes. So, for now, Rochester is my option.

What about you?

@Matthew Irish-Jones well then I certainly have my work cut out for me! Thanks very much for the well-wishes!

@Matthew Irish-Jones thanks very much for you response! I really appreciate it. Moving on to something more promising is definitely what I am going to do.