Hey Everyone,
My name is Eric and I live in Oceanside NY which is in Nassau County Long Island.
I am a banker by trade but after a few short years working in Manhattan for Bloomberg and JPMorgan Chase, I decided I wanted to work for myself and started my own real estate brokerage. Before starting my own company, I bought my first two family house in 2002 which was also my primary residence. I also finished the the basement as a small 1br apt which is very common in this area. Between the two rentals, I was pretty much living for free.
After my first purchase, prices here on the Island were appreciating at about 20-30% a year and finding another two family with positive cash flow was unheard of. A buddy of mine ended up buying a two family in Albany NY and started renting to college students. After going over the numbers with him, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It was pretty much a no brainer. I ended up buying four two family houses in Albany and my niche was to only rent to grad students. I was making between $400 and $500 per month per house net positive cash flow. It was unbelievable because just three hours away back on Long Island, you would be lucky to lose that amount each month. I held these properties for about three and half years before selling them all for a hefty profit. At the time, I was still waiting for real estate prices to come down on Long Island but they just kept going up.
Finally, in 2007, the bubble burst and prices started to decline. Even so, it was still impossible to find any good investment properties to buy and hold. By this point, I kept hearing stories of investors flipping houses and making good money throughout the real estate boom. I was afraid to jump in until prices came down so finally in 2008 when prices dropped 20% from 2007, I was positioned well to start flipping houses and there were plenty of REO's on the market. I did my first flip in 2008 and since then have averaged about 2-3 per year. Besides flipping houses, I still do a handful of deals each year for other people, which helps out during slow times.
Currently, supply here is very tight and prices have been going up. Anything that is remotely investment grade has ten offers on it within days and there is always an investor willing to overpay. Although I've made about 40-50 offers, not one of them have been accepted. With that said, I have decided to go into wholesaling. I realized that the best way for me to get any deals is to spend money marketing and advertising directly to owners.
I just signed a lease for my first office space and will begin marketing and advertising shortly.
In the meantime, I am looking to network with other like minded real estate investors and would appreciate any and all advise and or feedback.
Thanks for listening and hope to stay in touch!
Best Regards,
Eric
