All Forum Posts by: Trevor Ewen

@Eric Shadowens

Others have already said it. 'Sophisticated investor' and 506b investments are what you are looking for. You will need to establish the relationships, these sponsors are not allowed to solicit. So, start talking to people and learning about what they do and who they know.

On another note, Kentucky is great. Just closed on a 220 unit in Lexington, KY.

@Chris Skutnik

Giving the counter-opinion here. I think you should keep your investment money out of NYC, it's very tough to make decent returns. State laws are getting more landlord-hostile. Inventory is increasing. All this adds up to slower future growth for new entrants. There is much better income-action and prices in other parts of the country.

I am a happy New Yorker. But I have a motto to make money here and get it out of the state as fast as possible.

@Jack Mccormack

Welcome! I hope the trip goes well. I lived in Cork for a little during college, great place!

New York is a punishingly tough rental market. Construction is a different story, there are definitely opportunities, but you will need to find your niche. As for investing, I would consider going out of state. Since your primary business is construction, you may do best with something passive like a syndication or private loan.

@Brian Toy

Couple things I would recommend:

1) Always pay the sponsor a visit. It's a small cost compared to the investment itself.
2) Make sure they will let you talk to prior investors.
3) Ensure that they have transparency on the books and on how things are doing throughout the process of the project.
4) Make sure they (or a surrogate) are able to take your calls and emails when you have questions and concerns.
5) Make sure they can talk about substantive failures. Anyone who has gotten this far will have a few bad eggs in there, and it's much better if they can be honest and reflective. The flip side of this is not to get scared off whenever someone tells you about a mistake or bad investment. If anything, this should be more reassuring.

@Trevor Bingham

Good amount for a lot of syndicators. If his goals are passive, I would go with that. He gets the benefits of scale and does not need to lear on the job as much. The VA loan aspect is nice, but still hard in a hot market. Syndication allows him to go out-of-state and where the returns are strong enough for his risk tolerance and appetite.

@Jessica Perkins

New York is a hamster wheel. If you can outrun it, you can do good things. A lot of people talk about high salaries here, but it only matters if you can keep costs under control. If your personal finances are in order, my recommendation is to go out-of-state. The New York market is punishingly tough, and does very little to protect the interests of small >> medium sized landlords.

@Jason W.

Highly recommend it. Just going to point you to another thread I wrote on the topic:

Originally posted by @Trevor Ewen:

@Aymeric De Conde

I was in your position 6 years ago. I made a strong decision to go out-of-state, and I have never looked back.

After a number of evictions, repairs, and even selling units in markets where things can move faster and with fewer cuts to the middlemen, I am more sold on this idea than before. Additionally, I have now gone almost entirely passive with private loans and syndications.

The state government is currently trying (and succeeding) to make it harder to own anything in NYC. You could get a price spike due to inventory pressures that come out of this legislation, but it's equally likely you'll get your price dragged down by new inventory in Long Island City, Jersey City, Hudson Yards, and the list goes on.

The desirability of the market already makes it nearly impossible to cashflow. Renting feels like throwing money away, but so is paying interest, taxes, and insurance. On a 30-year loan, you will pay down very little equity until the 8th year of payments.

Let's be clear. I think New York is a fun and fantastic place to live. I have a motto to make my money here and get it out-of-state as fast as possible.

Always good to see other Queens residents on the forums!

@Barry Friedman

You can do numbers like that in Trenton. It's farther from the city, but there are a few things to like. Happy to talk to you more about my experience in the market.

@Roland Nzonzila

This is a very tough market. If you're willing to go in the area and do flips, there are a few more markets nearby heading into New Jersey and Pennsylvania that would be better from an opportunity perspective. 

If you have mobility, I would even consider faster growing cities where the inventory is lower cost. You have more room to experiment. Also, the cost of labor tends to be lower in these markets as well.

@Aymeric De Conde

I was in your position 6 years ago. I made a strong decision to go out-of-state, and I have never looked back.

After a number of evictions, repairs, and even selling units in markets where things can move faster and with fewer cuts to the middlemen, I am more sold on this idea than before. Additionally, I have now gone almost entirely passive with private loans and syndications. 

The state government is currently trying (and succeeding) to make it harder to own anything in NYC. You could get a price spike due to inventory pressures that come out of this legislation, but it's equally likely you'll get your price dragged down by new inventory in Long Island City, Jersey City, Hudson Yards, and the list goes on. 

The desirability of the market already makes it nearly impossible to cashflow. Renting feels like throwing money away, but so is paying interest, taxes, and insurance. On a 30-year loan, you will pay down very little equity until the 8th year of payments.

Let's be clear. I think New York is a fun and fantastic place to live. I have a motto to make my money here and get it out-of-state as fast as possible.