I was living in one unit for all but the last 2 years so it was my primary residence.Long TermBelieve it or not; I want to establish a buy and hold portfolio of cash flowing properties.

Advice on presentation , should I have a portfolio?

RE has some risk that a diversified stock portfolio does not have, but it also has much greater opportunities for leverage, it provides the opportunity to earn the PM fees by self-managing, it has the tax advantages.

I do also want to get a few rentals in the portfolio for long term steady income.

or Some combination to get a varied portfolio started?

We have purchased older, cheaper homes and new construction homes for our buy and hold portfolio and we have been happy with all of them.If you have a goal of having multiple rental properties and you start out buying the more expensive homes then it will take you longer to accumulate as many properties as you'd like, unless you are already flush with cash to go out and buy them all.

I want to hold and rent the property with the help of a good property manager while I remain in NYC.I eventually [5 - 10 yrs] would like to invest full time and build up a sizable portfolio [$50M+] with the cash flow to allow me to live a very comfortable lifestyle.

Or you could try a portfolio/commercial lender.

Oh and while the smaller groups may not have the same credability, ask them for some form of portfolio.

Unless you can build a good portfolio of borrowers for short term rehab flip projects or new build projects, it is tough to get 12% or better for 12 years straight, or even 3 years straight.