A cousin of mine has built (he has a construction company) some higher end townhomes in Manhattan and has done quite well renting to grad students there.

@Aaron Montague, I joined your network.FYI, I am arranging for a panel discussion of crowdfund execs in Manhattan in March/April.

Best to talk to trustee, likely the attorney who setup the trust on the options for how you can handle taking on such expenses and still be protected...http://www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/06/revocablelivingtrust.asp

We did a boutique hotel construction project in Manhattan (SoHo) earlier this year so I am somewhat familiar with these types of projects.

I always heard the stories of how many times the Brooklyn bridge was sold.and the best deal of all was the purchase of the island of Manhattan from the Indians.

My partner and I live in Manhattan and own in Atlanta and Roswell - a quadplex and a condo.

Even for a project i managed in manhattan i used a central NJ cabinet and counter guy just because it was easier and te budget was a little more.

I'm originally from San Francisco, currently living in Paramus NJ, moving into Manhattan this October.

That is insane and I don't mean his huge profit, I mean the $30-40 million for a Manhattan brownstone.  

And you will find that as you add value (hopefully) to the property and neighborhood your individual cap rate will increase, based on your purchase price.I work in Manhattan and cap rates normally hover around 4% these days in the city.