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Hi all

Ok, so you guys gave me a good reality check on buying rental property in NYC! Full of enthusiasm, low on experience!

So anyway, I have indeed come to the conclusion that unless you have a big downpayment it's hard to get rental property to cash flow in NYC.

Does anyone have any ideas on strategies for NYC? I was thinking of buying a fixer upper, renovating it, then renting. Do you think there are fixer upper bargains to be had out there? I would like to buy a property for the renovated market value less 30% less cost to renovate. Does that theory still hold?

Cheers
Pete

Hi: Have been doing a lot of research in the NYC area and have come to the conclusion that it's hard to get residential rental properties to cash flow without a large downpayment.

Have considered repos/fixer uppers, which I am not averse to, but I would like for my first purchase to be straightforward as I build my experience.

5 years ago I lived in London, and owned a 1 bedroom apartment. When I moved to New York, I kept the apartment and rented it out, made a killing and doubled my money over the 3 years I rented it. Of course real estate in London was going up 15% a year at that point!

So, anyway I'm expanding my research to further afield. Would like to look at areas within a 3 hour driving distance of NYC. Any ideas on areas to watch?

Cheers
Pete

Yes the $500 "loss" per month includes expenses as well.

I understand that investing for equity growth is a form of speculation. I do believe though that it's less risky than the stock market in the long run.

Great comments and as I do more research will post more questions.

Hello all, my name is Pete, I am a CPA in New York City. I am looking to get my feet wet in the world of real estate investing. Nothing crazy at first, I am not greedy and just want to make a decent return. Ideally in 5-10 years I would like to rely on real estate as my primary source of income.

Will be posting a few questions here as I do my research and come up with ideas. Look forward to hearing everyone's opinion, and I hope some day I will be able to give some opinions back!

Best,
Pete

Hi: I found this forum using Google and have been reading for the past few weeks. Now I would like to ask a question and am hoping I can learn from your experiences.

I would like to invest in and rent out a 1 bedroom apartment in NYC, costing around $300k-350k, for say 5 years. I want to do 100% financing (interest only if possible) but I will pay closing costs. Being a CPA I have done all the numbers and I can't get a positive cash flow. In one example I would have to cover the difference between rent and costs to the tune of $500 per month (which I can afford to do).

That said, if the market goes up even 6% a year I can still make a good return overall in 5 years upon sale of the property, even if I don't have cash flow.

So in essence I would be investing closing costs then $500 a month, in order to get a good overall return in 5 years.

Questions are:
1. Will banks lend money on a property where I am having to make up the rent each month to cover my costs? I can show I have enough income to make up the difference.
2. Do you think 6% growth in NYC is realistic over the next few years?

Look forward to hearing your opinions.