It was a good school for a newly arrived individual like myself.I hope I meet a lot of same minded people, and connect with different professionals.

I would definitely explore that option if I had that available to me, but being from Australia and living in SoCal since arriving here has made exploring out of state much more difficult. 

This will get you ready for deals when you arrive and have a good knowledge of the "local" market.

In doing more research I have arrived at actually a new question, which is, how to identify the next affordable rising NYC commuter location.

The exception to this occurs when the selling price falls too far below "market value" (there is a formula they use to arrive at that); if too low a selling price, then transfer taxes are based on that "market value".

Hello Lisa and welcome to the neighborhood, As a recent arrival myself, I would greatly recommend the RPOA and their podcast.

if he doesn't ask for a consultation fee when he arrives, Give him 75.00. 

My last experience trying to refi was that they started with the number they thought it should be and fudged the data to arrive at it.

Or get jobs before you arrive.

Any way, like the salmon I will work hard to reach my goals but unlike the salmon I will not spawn and die a week after arrival.