All Forum Posts by: Tim Griffiths

Hey John, welcome. I'm working my way through all of this myself. I live up in Oswego County and I worry about whether this market is viable or not. Houses are so cheap up here but the taxes kill any cash flow. I'm looking at a bunch of different types of REI, what specifically are you leaning towards, multi-family or SFR or something else? Thankfully my spousal unit is on board, I just need to find the right deal that makes sense.

I will have to download the audio version of Brandon's book since I drive a lot as well.

Carrie, thanks for your advice.  Unfortunately, a lot of upstate ny is starting to resemble Detroit/Rust Belt.  Schenectady has been on the downswing since the 1970's and Syracuse since the 90's.  With the plant closure in Oswego, there will be tons of inventory for sure, but tenants could be a big problem.  I'm definitely taking a wait and see in my hometown, but I'm going to continue looking for the right deals, improving my education, tightening our belts at home and growing my network.  I figure if I work hard, within five years I can have a good system in place and can be  growing at a rate that will allow financial freedom.

Just met someone who works for one of the largest builders in town.  It's amazing how when you're aware, how many people you meet who can potentially help you out down the road.

@Ryan Vienneau and @Steve B., thanks for the tips. Yeah, Schenectady county is more what I was thinking, not the city itself. I saw some stuff in Scotia and Rotterdam that looked interesting. I grew up in Duanesburg so I am very familiar with the cesspool that Schenectady turned into after GE shriveled up. My brother works in Nisky and I've got some contacts out there I trust so that's why I'm thinking it. Oswego is way too fluid, there are incredible looking deals here that are 300 days on market; even advertising in the MLS the great cash flow and cap rate yet no one is touching them.

And Syracuse is not much better.  Carrier left, GM left, New Venture left and the city is barely crawling out of that ten and twenty years later. so, at this point I'm looking at stuff in Syracuse University area, a few suburbs that aren't imploding and just get my first property under my belt.

 Thanks Steve, my thoughts exactly.  I don't want to wait forever to get into this so I'm looking in Syracuse area. How are things moving in schenectadynwith the casino coming in?  Helping or hurting property values?

hey Dustin, hello from a fellow oswegonian!  I'm just getting started myself.  I think we are lucky in the sense that real estate (other than the ridiculously high taxes) is very affordable. will you be doing the rehab work yourself or will you be contracting?  I'm leaning toward getting into buy and hold, emphasis on cash flow since property appreciate is not going to be as significant as other markets.  

Good luck and feel free to reach out, maybe we could meet for a cup of coffee sometime and compare strategies .

Tim

 Thanks Larry.  Yeah, I'm thinking of something like that.  Also I'm originally from Schenectady county and I know that area is starting to see a bit of a renaissance and I still have contacts there including family so I may look that way.   My fathers house is on the market and priced as it is we've got it below market due to some work that needs to be done.  I'm thinking I may take it over, fix it up and put it back on the market hoping to make a bit more of a profit, either for me and siblings or I will just buy it outright.  It's in a good location with appreciating houses so if I can put some work into it, nothing major, I think we could make some good money back on it.

Lots of opportunities.  Rochester is intriguing too, but the demographics for the city are unknown so it would have to be some research on my part. Mthe good news is I have friends and family there as well who could do due diligence for me.  Exciting to think about for sure.

thanks for the hellos.  Just been listening to the podcasts and have downloaded the ultimate beginners guide.  I'm a little confused by what buying notes means so I need to look that up. This is all so interesting.  I just found out one of my high school classmates is on here and doing really well, such a small world.

hello, I'm just getting into this.  In fact I go to look at my first possible investment property today.  I'm a little worried though because one of the largest employers in my town (Oswego, NY) just announced they are shutting down, essentially laying off over 500 people (engineers and other high paying jobs) in the next two years.  This is a huge blow to our economy.  I was thinking I wanted to invest locally, to maintain as much hands on as I could but now I don't know.  My town is a college town but we are not wealthy; our county has the states highest unemployment rate, even before the plant shut down. 

So, a question, actually two.  Is it possible to make money in a soon to be very down market?  And, if not, how feasible is it to invest out of state as a newbie?  I know how much I don't know which makes me very nervous but I also can't wait to get into this business. 

For some perspective, I have a full time sales job, I make good money, have three kids and want to start getting some passive income to a) pay for college and b) eventually get out of my current job.  So, I can't go all in, but I also can't afford to wait years to start this.

Thanks