All Forum Posts by: Farrah Ahmed

Wondering if anyone knows if there is a good way to background check NYC general contractors for renovation work? I have been interviewing a few but can't seem to find any information on them on yelp/better business bureau/etc. Curious if there's a way to check to see how many permits they've gotten/buildings they have worked on/ if there have been any complaints, etc. Thanks!

Thanks Jason. That was my concern as well (buyers will not like the maint being high). Just to throw some numbers out there, the one apt has ~$1k/mo maint and the other is ~$2k/mo. But the difference in prices between the apartments is $200k. I agree resale worries me a little w/ the $2k maint apt, but with such a low initial price to buy in, feels like I’d still overall spend less with the cheaper apartment unless I lived in this apartment for almost 20 years (and that’s highly unlikely). I’m most likely going to move in 5-10 years.  SALT cap going to be an issue unless they change the tax rules.

Curious what people think. I'm looking at 2 different apartments in Manhatan. Both are good and I would be happy living there in terms of location/building/ apt/ etc. One is about 30% more expensive than the other, but it has 1/2 the monthly maint costs. The other one is cheaper obviously but the maint is high. I'm going to have to renovate both apartments. I'm trying to decide which one is the better purchase financially. I was comparing both apartments but adding the total purchase price + renovation costs + 7 years of maint and using that to compare the two since I feel like I'm likely to live there for 5-10 years. At some point I think I'll move, so I don't envision this being my home for 30 years or anything (although I could live there less than 5 or more than 10...7 seemed like an ok timeframe to think about). The total costs are lower for the cheaper apartment but my monthly bill will be slightly higher (thanks to low interests)! What do people think about them?  I realize I am not including any appreciation, but wonder if I should.

Thanks guys for all the thoughts! Lots to think about. I think all of these are valid points. I do think NYC will come back and if I can find an attractive entry point, probably worth looking into it more. Thanks again!!

Was curious for other investors living in NYC what you all think about A) renting vs buying for your own primary residence in the city, and B)what do people thinking about condos vs. coops? Hard to know the future, but I'm assuming at least a 5 year time horizon for staying in NY at least. The city is still recovering and I recognize it may take a few years for things to get back to normal. Rents are obviously very low right now, but I see that changing. Home prices have come down from the 2017 NYC highs (and covid hurt a bit too).  It seems to me that condo prices in Manhattan are way higher than equivalent coops (sometimes 2-3x as much) so the coops seem like a better value, esp if I am looking at not renting out/etc. Curious what others think. I'm debating if better to keep renting and save my cash to invest in other cities or if I should buy a place for myself.