All Forum Posts by: Quentin Thiery

Hi BP forum,

Hope everyone is well! I am looking into house hacking a 2-4 unit property in the near future, yet since I live in New York City, and it is close to impossible to house-hack where I'm out without some serious funds, would any New York investors particularly recommend investing in upstate New York (Tarrytown, Albany, Saratoga, Hudson, or any other cities) versus investing in Long Island. Both options have some schools that I would interested in renting out to students and both have enough local economic strength that both would make sense. Essentially I'm really try to narrow down a target market that I can start investing and not sure whether to head east or north! Any feedback about good locations to invest (also open to Tri-state area too! CT and NJ) and any feedback about some house hacking tips is always incredibly helpful. Thank you in advance for your wisdom!

@Nate Monson Yes that's exactly my plan! - house-hacking in multifamily (or SFH w renting rooms) to maybe get an FHA loan with low DP or seller financing - anything to really lower my cash invested (since I am still a student and working 2 jobs part time its hard to save up a lot you know). Definitely interested in student rentals as I have some friends at SUNY Albany that could network for me lol. I am definitely looking for cash flow, but totally okay with sacrificing some of that for a property manager. I asked my initial question because I actually was having a bit of a hard time analyzing properties - the numbers didn't seem to make sense - but I also think I need some more practice analyzing deals, because I could be doing certain things wrong. Do you think the MLS is the best place to get comps and help analyze properties? Let me know what you think because I definitely am interested in house-hacking in upstate NY.

@Minna Reid No i don't have access to the MLS but I am passing my RE license in the NY in the coming months so I should have some then. But yes I was looking at sites like Zillow and Redfin and yes I guess that isn't the best way to get a proper understanding of the market. It was strange just seeing obvious fixer uppers selling for $150K and then a finished home nearby selling for $180K? Since information is limited of course I can't know what isn't shown to me but from an investing point of view it was weird that a property that needed that much work would only be a bit cheaper than some of the nearby comps. Either the comps were not right or maybe the house was overpriced for any particular reason. Thank you for your reply!

@Steven Luttman Not sure if my prior message linked above^

@Nate Monson

@Steven Luttman

@Steven Luttman

@Steven Luttman 

Yes I know, @Eliott Elias, but given that similar priced houses with similar features in nearby locations seem to be very far apart from each other is weird and i was wondering why that might be. Sure a little variability is expected but enough for $100K difference between two separate homes for almost the same house? Seems weird and I'm probably missing something.

@Malcomb Stapel @Brett Deas Thank you! Good points for sure especially about the DOM

Hi all,

I was doing some market analysis in the Albany area and have been finding insane amounts of variability in prices. There are some 4br3ba that are $150K then some that are $280K, even though they are close by and one isn't totally gutted while the other is finished. I've found this with many other properties; despite similar bedroom/bath/square footage comps, they can really vary widely in terms of listing price. Does anybody know why this is? Maybe some properties need more work than others and I can't quite see that at first glance but it does seem a bit strange about how wide the range is for similar properties with similar features. Any advice or points that I may be missing would be helpful!

@Eliott Elias

Thanks for your quick reply! When you mean experience investor, do you mean for the actual rehab of the property or simply an experienced investor just simply for turning over the transaction to another investor?

Thanks!

Hi all,

I am a newbie investor but I don't yet have the capital or experience to feel complete confidence to pull the trigger on a deal - nor the resources to acquire financing, manage a rehab, etc. 

My dilemma: I think I found a pretty good deal, if my numbers aren't completely out of the left field (currently doing more in-depth estimates and analyzing), I definitely have something good on my hands. However, how can I position myself where I can profit off getting this deal under contract, or at least get some experience or money out of this deal? Of course, there are a lot of moving parts, but if I could get it under the right price, is my only option to "wholesale" it and make money off an assignment fee, or is there a way I can do that while also getting my feet wet with understanding the ins and outs of a property from rehabbing to getting a tenant in place.

Thank you for any advice you can give me!!