Author Topic: Rental Property in Syracuse  (Read 1013 times)

Christian

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Rental Property in Syracuse
« on: June 25, 2019, 10:43:30 AM »
Hi Everyone,
I've been lurking around these forums for quite some time and now I finally feel ready to purchase my first rental property.

I live in Northern NJ just outside of NYC. Around here home prices and property taxes seem a bit too high to find any good deals - at least not something that is in relatively
good condition and able to rent immediately. At some point I'll be more comfortable taking on a distressed property and rehabbing it for better return potential, but for my first property I think I'd like to ease into things a bit.

As I've been searching other markets I found what on paper looks like a good cash flow producing property near Syracuse University. Obviously that's not something I'd be able to manage myself being hours away, but even with a property manager the cash flow looks good. The property is already occupied with long term renters in place (grad students) though at slightly below market rates.

My main question is about the area itself. I keep reading that Syracuse neighborhoods can really change from block to block. Does anyone have any experience with rentals in Central NY? Worth the risk?

Archipelago

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Re: Rental Property in Syracuse
« Reply #1 on: June 25, 2019, 09:02:14 PM »
If it's your first property, I'd recommend against buying something that's several hours away from you.

Quote
My main question is about the area itself. I keep reading that Syracuse neighborhoods can really change from block to block. Does anyone have any experience with rentals in Central NY? Worth the risk?
This is the reason you'd want to avoid something where you don't know the area. It's too big of an unknown to be worth the risk. However, if you WENT to Syracuse for college and had gotten to know the area over 4 years, it'd be a different story.

Start with something fairly local and get to know other real estate investors in your area. You'll be able to learn from these types, and it's a really good place to start.

Papa bear

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Re: Rental Property in Syracuse
« Reply #2 on: June 26, 2019, 09:41:25 PM »
I don’t know about Syracuse, but numbers are numbers.  Post some listing prices, current and market rents, taxes, etc. and we can tell you if it makes sense. 

Is it a college rental?


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Christian

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Re: Rental Property in Syracuse
« Reply #3 on: June 27, 2019, 11:19:17 PM »
Details on the property:

Purchase price: $140,000

Unit 1: Already rented @ $575 (should be about $650)
Unit 2: Already rented @ $575 (should be about $650)
Unit 3: Vacant (owner occupied) but can rent for $1050
Total rent: $2200
* renters are long term grad students

Estimated monthly expenses: $1550 (mortgage P&I, taxes, management, garbage collection, conservative vacancy rate & capex)

Estimated monthly cash flow: $650

Papa bear

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Re: Rental Property in Syracuse
« Reply #4 on: June 28, 2019, 07:07:32 AM »
I own campus area rentals - grad students tend to live somewhere cheap, but safe.  How close to the university is it?  Would the 3rd unit rent to students?

How are the student rentals managed?  As in, are they semester to semester, full year, no summers, etc.  When would the rental “season” start for the upcoming school year?  My leases are 1 year starting August 1.  But people start looking for their next place as early as October! So these rent 10 months in advance.   If you miss that window, you miss the prime student candidates.  So get to know the area. 

The numbers look good on the surface, but I would look to see what other deferred maintenance there could be on the house.  Campus rentals tend to be lipstick and paint type repairs and rarely get things completed correctly. Have a discerning eye toward any recent upgrade. 

If that was in the campus area I own in, I’d have an offer in on it.


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