One of the largest employers n Albany is a regional hospital, that is about to get some serious competition from the county just to the North, that has a much better school system, and is where a large portion of people who work in Albany live.

Property management is the easy button, but there is a cost. 

Partially due to extreme competition in my area.

Many reason I stay away from Condo's including:HOA regime feesUnexpected and expensive HOA assessment fees for upgrades or repairs that you may not agree with.RulesClose proximity to others that could cause disagreementsSaturation and competition on renting condo's ParkingI would personally never buy a condo for these reasons and look for a deal on a house.

I'm sure you heard how you can buy houses "for pennies on the dollar" just pay the taxes and the house can be yours. the reality is while that is possible the competition dosesn't allow it to happen.

Look for the topics that catch your eye in the forums, when you think of a few you're interested in, hit the "follow" button to keep up to date on what is going on in those specific forums.2.

Go to Etsy and search for "rental property tracker," and you will find hundreds of nice spreadsheets to track 10-20 rentals, usually for under $10.Software has extremely helpful features like online payments, marketing syndication (click a button, and your property is advertised on multiple sites), electronic document review/signing, maintenance tracking, and owner reports.

So competition goes up.

Looks nice and clean @Annie Balagot, but you are in a very competitive market and your bedrooms need better themeing.

I wish I would've thought about househacking back then so its cool to see someone taking advantage of the strategy.As you mentioned, Long Island is super expensive and competitive.