All Forum Posts by: Eric Hajdu

Hey Steven, NYC is a huge city made up of 5 boroughs, and you can certainly do it in several areas.  I can't speak to Long Island, as I only invest within the city.  There are many opportunities in Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx to buy a three family and live for free in one of the units, especially if your okay taking the top floor one bed while renting out larger units with outdoor space.

In Manhattan, I would say it's nearly impossible to house hack in any traditional sense, and Staten Island has some options, but in my opinion you would much better appreciation/rental demand in the other boroughs.  

All that said, the cost of entry is obviously going to be higher here, with the baseline even in the outlier areas being close to a million.  What you really gain by investing here is capital appreciation in your property that could lead to some great refinancing down the road.  Best of luck in your search!

I am in the process of buying a townhouse in Cobble Hill Brooklyn, and have been putting together a budget for a gut/addition of square footage, and I'm at right about $350 psf.  As Alexander noted in his post, so much if it depends on the property your renovating and the logistics.  For example, you can park a dumpster in front of a townhouse on a residential street, while gutting a co-op could literally take months of planning/approvals.

Best of luck in your future project!

Mary Joe, I'm not sure exactly what property type your looking for and your budget, but I would consider Greenwood, Sunset Park, and even some parts of Brooklyn Chinatown.  These areas are trading at a discount to Bushwick and Bed Stuy, but offer a lot in terms of amenities such as cafes, gyms, transportation options, etc.  Also, there is a large supply of 2-4 family homes priced under 1.5mil.

In general, I think proximity to grocery stores is becoming less of a factor, as many New Yorkers rely solely on delivery.  The pandemic made train accessibility less important, but I notice that it is becoming desirable again.

One final thought, investing in NYC is so different than 95% of the markets around the country, and most of the metrics traditionally used by Bigger Pockets won't work if you are trying to model profitability.  I have said this in previous post, but you invest here if you want to build wealth over time, not for immediate cash flow.  There are some fringe areas where you can achieve 6-8% annualized return, but with that comes risk of unreliable tenants, stagnant property value growth, etc.  Feel free to message me privately if you have more specific questions, I've been active in the local market for 20 years, and have a pretty solid network of contractors, brokers, etc.

@Mary Joe

I agree with what Dor said, you can’t really compare Astoria to Bushwick or Bedstuy, it is more like the Bay Ridge of Queens. Meaning it is safe with tons of things to do, but not very progressive and young people don’t want to live there.

Also, in general people in the outer boroughs who pay a premium want to be close to Downtown Manhattan/Wall St. Queens is more convenient to midtown and the upper East side.

I am bias to Brooklyn since I live/invest there, but I think Queens is great. I just don’t see huge upside in Astoria, I think Ridgewood or some of the rapidly changing areas are more interesting. Good luck in your search!

Dan, I think Bryan gave you great advice about partnering up with another investor to buy a multifamily.  There are so many real estate investors that are cash rich, but don't show much income on their taxes, so you having a great salary could be a real asset to someone like that to obtain traditional financing.

I certainly wouldn't look at the 1 bed condo as waste, I bought two one beds in North Brooklyn years ago and am not selling them to roll into multi families, you could do the same thing with some patience.  I'm not sure what neighborhoods your looking in, but from the sounds of your post, your thinking Park Slope, Ft. Greene, etc.  Your not touching a multi unit in these areas for under 2 million, and even that will need work.  Consider looking a little further out, Greenwood, Bushwick, Sunset Park, I believe there is some real value/appreciation there.  Best of luck in your journey!

Hey Aaron,

I enjoyed your post, I have a couple thoughts that will hopefully be helpful.  I currently own two one beds, located in Carroll Gardens and Park Slope, I also own a 3 bed in South Slope that I live in.

In regards to the four neighborhoods you mentioned and how they will potentially appreciate, I would say the following:

PLG- I wouldn't buy a one bed unit here, as it primarily attracts families looking for relatively affordable singe family town houses, and doesn't offer much that young professionals would be attracted to.

Prospect Heights- A great area full of dinning options, transportation, bars, etc.  Very desirable, but largely already mostly discovered, would be hard to find a deal.

Park Slope- Probably the most blue chip neighborhood in Brooklyn, incredibly stable, will most likely continue to appreciate at a modest rate.  I would liken buying a unit here to investing in Microsoft or Apple stock.

Prospect Park South- To me, this is the most undervalued of the areas you mentioned and has the greatest future upside potential.  Pretty good transportation options, tons of cafes, etc.  Being close to Prospect Park will always be valuable.

Hope this helps, feel free to reach out to me privately if you would like to talk in more detail.  I could give more accurate insights if I knew ballpark budget, if it's for yourself or to rent out, etc.  Either way, best of luck, no matter what you buy in BK you will win over time.

@Olivia Lui

Hey Olivia, I wouldn’t bother getting the water meters divided, as I’ve never heard of an unit owner paying for water in NYC, it’s always a building expense. In condos and co-ops it gets paid out of monthly maintenance fees and on rentals it is always paid by the building owner/landlord.

If your bill is outrageous, there could be a mechanical culprit, such as leak, running toilets, etc.

@Luca Truffle

I’m in a pretty similar scenario to the one you mentioned above, and at times I regret it, but for the most part love where I live and know there will be significant capital appreciation. We bought our 3bd in bk about 3 years ago for about the same price as a multi family townhouse in the area. I often think maybe it would have been better to house hack a 2 or 3 family to have some income coming in, but it ends up being a very different lifestyle.

I don’t believe age old formulas regarding salary to cost of living really apply to NYC. When you live here, it doesn’t matter if your making 50k or several million a year, a larger portion of your salary is going towards cost of living compared to most parts of the country.

If you love the apartment and believe in the area, I think you should go for it, and with your salary, lock in a great interest rate plus possibly heloc to buy a secondary investment property. Best of luck, I know these larger numbers are scary, but if you can make it work, it’s a real accomplishment.

I have two Brooklyn Condo rentals that I have owned for many years which have appreciated tremendously, but they still barely even cash flow.  The common charges and taxes make it almost impossible for the numbers to make sense on a new construction condo, but they are a great tool for building your wealth and net worth over time.  From my experience, another issue with the NYC condo, is that your fix cost are guaranteed to frequently change, common charges could double, large assessments, taxes going up 20% in a year, etc.

If you looking for monthly yield in the NYC market, you have to branch out to the fringe neighborhoods a bit and look a multi-fam properties.  I have been looking at several 3 families in Brooklyn that are true 5 or 6 caps, and you are able to really control your monthly expenses.

Best of luck in your search!

Hey Anders, I'm not sure how active you are in the Brooklyn market, but from personal experience and through talking to other local investors, I would be very conservative/cautious in your RR projections.  I have two one beds in Class A Bk neighborhoods, and they have not been easy to rent out lately, yes the market is rapidly improving, but it could still take some time to get the units filled, so I would be hesitant to pursue a deal where the margins are so tight.  One final thought, the property taxes on my 3 BK properties have increasing exponentially every year, and I imagine will only get worse with the impending budget crisis.

Ps- I know it doesn't sound like it, but I am very bullish on the local market and wouldn't invest anywhere else.  As I've mentioned in a few of my previous post, you really buy here for the capital appreciation, not the cap rate, best of luck in your search.