All Forum Posts by: Myles Ellison

Hi @Christian Orellana! How's it going with your building? If you're looking for a real estate broker, I'd love to help.

Hey BP, I'm an early 30s professional looking to buy his first place. I'm curious, is it worth it to buy a condo in NYC, and furthermore, is using an FHA loan even an option? I hear stories about people getting beat out with tons of cash offers, and FHA offers need to be above asking. Also, from listening to BP podcasts, I hear you aren't supposed to buy based on appreciation because "that's not investing, that's speculating." Can anyone give me their thoughts on this? Mostly on if it's actually realistic to think I can buy an NYC condo with an FHA loan.

Hey BP Fam, wanted to run something by you all. A former real estate broker/mentor offered to help me buy a condo. His proposal is that he would pay the full down payment and closing costs and we would own the place 50/50. He would basically give me private money and I would use my FHA privileges. I'd live in it for a year and then we'd decide if we wanted to rent it out/I'd stay there/we'd sell it. He mentioned the possibility of good appreciate in the coming years. The neighborhoods I'm interested in are Ridgewood (Queens) and Bushwick (Brooklyn).

However, I am a few weeks away from closing a sale on a property I own (inherited when my parents passed away a few years ago) out of state (Vermont) and will have enough to move forward myself if I want to. He even mentioned to me how "it would be smarter for me to do it myself." He also mentioned that he would co-sign a mortgage for me if I needed any help.

I know this all sounds like a nice offer, but he has an interest in getting a return on his investment, of course. And he can be a rather intense/pushy person, so the thought of partnering for this does give me pause... I've been a real estate agent for 7 years and he was my broker for 4 of those years. I know it might sound crazy, but I've only done rentals and never repped a buyer/seller, and going through the sale of the out-of-state property is my first experience buying/selling. He also mentioned I could represent myself in the deal and use my commission to reimburse myself for closing costs.

Does this sound like a good idea? Bad idea? All I can think of is what Bigger Pockets has drilled into me, which is "don't buy for appreciation, buy for cash flow." But then I look at comps of condos in my areas of choice that sold for $200k in 2013, which are now listed for $400+...

Any comments/advice appreciated. I'm assuming the first step in all this if I did move forward would be meeting with a mortgage broker and finding out what I'd qualify for. My credit is excellent and income is decent. Thank you.

Hello,

I’m Myles, age 30, living in Queens, NY, and working as a real estate agent here, focusing in rentals for the past 6 years.

I’m writing because my 2-5 year plan is to buy a multifam in another market. I can’t afford anything in the NY Metro Area at the moment, so I’m exploring areas in:

• my home state of Vermont (Southern VT mainly)
• Keene, NY
• Pittsburgh, PA where my brother lives
• Kingston, NY (Upstate NY area/Catskills)
• North Adams, MA (college town)

I’m trying to stick to areas I have some ties to since it will most likely be an out-of-state situation with a property manager.

My goal is to buy a 2-4 unit property that is in decent shape, rent the units, and have one unit for myself to come to when I want to get away from NYC.

I've been running numbers on both the rental property calculator and the BRRRR calculator with varying results. It seems that unless it's in rough condition and I make a very lowball, borderline-unrealistic offer, the numbers aren't gonna work.

I'm sort of torn because I have an amazing deal on my rent-stabilized one-bed here in Ridgewood, Queens. And I stay pretty busy here in the city, so I'm not sure I would be ready to do an FHA-loan house hack and relocate. Rather, I might have to bite the bullet and put the 20% down and get a property manager. Of course, I could also get private/hard money, but that sort of freaks me out - what if the property doesn't hit the target ARV and I can't pay off the lender / 70% isn't enough?

But part of me would like to get out of the city, cut my living expenses and maybe even live rent/mortgage-free! There's also the huge benefit of using an FHA loan, but I'm not sure I would be able to sublet my apartment here in the city to occupy the property for the first year.

Then, I think about the pros of having the tenants next door: they are next door. And the cons: they are next door.

So, I’ve also considered a single-fam, short-term vacation rental property in the Vermont ski areas, the Catskills, or some other yet-to-be-researched/discovered location.

Anyway, as you can see, I need to keep researching to find out where the best opportunity is for me. Fortunately, I have excellent credit, but I’ve been an independent contractor for the past 6 years, so I worry about qualifying for a mortgage. Once a house my brother and I co-own (inherited property in rough condition aka not getting rich off it) sells in Vermont, I will be debt-free and have some savings for a down payment. That *should* happen in 2018, fingers crossed.

If anyone has any comments/guidance/experience they can share with me, that would be awesome! I feel like I'm in my obsessive, Type A research spiral and need some guidance to focus/think outside the box.

Thank you,

Myles

Hey Vincent! Sorry for the late reply. I deal with the finances and he deals with the tenant/repairs, but we switch it up sometimes.

Wow, awesome work! Congratulations!! 

Congrats @Vincent Townsend ! My brother and I are partners for a property, too, except it's in Southern Vermont. Great work! #allinthefamily

Hey @Justin Colletti - Myles here, new to BP and interested to find out how your Keene, NH plans worked out! I own a single-family home in Brookline, VT about 40 mins away and grew up in Southern Vermont. We always went to Keene and my best friend's Mom is the Director of Admissions at Keene State College. My friend also is an investor in the area and has a couple single-family homes in Keene. Would love to see an update from you as I've been looking at multi family's online and it seems there are a lot of good deals. 

Hey @Russell Smith ! Not sure if you're still in need, but I know a great real estate agent in the Stratton area named Elyn Bischof (http://www.strattonhome.com/realestate/agent/elyn-bischof/) who could point you in the right direction. My brother and I own a single family investment property in our hometown of Brookline, VT. Did you ever end up developing that land? My brother and I are looking to invest more in the area in the next 2 years as well. Cheers!