Market research, local expertise, networking, property management, financial planning, potential legal and tax ramifications, risk management, and long-term vision are important factors to take into account.

And I bet your local market is too.

Are you planning to invest locally in New York, or are you open to investing out-of-state?

At that time, local jurisdictions may be allowed to require property owners to be owner-occupied. 

I bought SFH through turnkey companies out of state, had a few SFH's locally managed by someone else and bought some small mulifamily properties and had a PM there as well. 

This means a great lending attorney, 1st position loans against local properties, and sensible loan-to-value ratios (LTVs).

Local REI Meetup groups - AskThey are out there, but they are hiding under rocks a lot of times and you have to turn over a lot of rocks to find them.    

If you visit https://www.biggerpockets.com/events, there is a section for "Community Events & Local Meet Ups." 

Educate yourself on the local market, network with other investors and agents, and always have a solid plan in place before making any investments.

If you want to stay local, you might need to start with house hacking a home.