All Forum Posts by: Michael Lester

I'm active in Buffalo

Ummm. Do not invest in the east side of Buffalo based on colleges or tourism...

I'm in Buffalo, NY. People like it here because its an entry level market. 

@Dawn Anastasi
Are your mortgage payments $300?
Just curious as I noticed the delta w/mortgage - w/o mortgage

I'm from Buffalo and invest here. 
All of the deals I'm seeing from BP are in terrible areas. East side of Buffalo and Niagara Falls are areas I stay away from. Unsafe areas with no foreseeable turn around to put it nicely.
I have a Duplex I'm wholesaling in Cheektowaga, $75,500, turnkey, no cap backs, $850 a unit in rent. I get a lot of interest but each person has seen the property's proximity to the east side of Buffalo and loose their interest. I will likely be closing and holding the property.

I actually just commented on a woman's post who bought an east side property, put money into it, and the bank will not appraise over $65k because of comps. 
You have to be careful here in Buffalo because there's this idea that every neighborhood is "up and coming". Truth is there's nothing to support that idea other than the banks lending. The growth we're seeing here can be seen all over the country.  

Real Estate agents always disagree and act like it'll continue to grow forever.
Investors who have been around a while will tell you it looks just like it did in 2006.

There's a good BP podcast with an investor who rode the last crash and profited the whole way down. It's a good time to listen to that one, I believe its somewhere in the 160's or 150's. 

You can run a deal or two here in Buffalo by me if you'd like. I'm a real estate agent as well as an investor. I often have wholesales available also.

I've been doing real estate for a while, but I too find BP to be a great resource. 
Think I'm going to purchase a membership soon.

@Courtney Joseph be CAREFUL!
I invest in Buffalo. I know Buffalo is very excited about their resurgence, but what Buffalo does not seem to acknowledge is that there is nothing happening in Buffalo that is not happening all over the country. It's all propped up by how the banks are lending. More lending, More borrowers, More demand, Higher Prices.
Everyone I know here is making the same money they were 5 years ago. 

So now to my point. The market is at an all time high. Likely peeking. It may not crash but it will come back down. i.e. f'(x)=-value.

Just from reading your numbers I'm confident in guessing your in the east side, possibly Schiller Park. You likely outpriced the neighborhood, and your frustrated that your property is being compared to the neighborhood it's sitting in. 

Feel free to reach out to me but your best strategy will likely be to commit to renting out the property long term. Mortgaging is a great idea if you have a plan to use the 80% they're going to give you of the $70,000 your property is worth. The comps really are all that matters. Income analysis usually isn't taken into consideration for a duplex. 
4 units or more are valued based on income analysis. 

Feel free to contact me. I wish you the best.

Michael J Lester Jr, 
Buffalo First Realty Group

@Aaron Bernbach  I wholesale, flip, and rent in Buffalo, NY if you were interested in an entry level market. Feel free to message me. I've actually been connecting with a lot of people through BP. It's great.

@Ashley Kehr  I honestly cannot figure out how to message you. New to this website as well

Welcome. I currently have a duplex I'm wholesaling in Cheektowaga if you are interested lmk