Can I get some advice

General Real Estate Investing
1

I currently live in PA but work in New York state and Im thinking of moving to NY. (Elmira)

There is an owner financed storefront property with 1 apartment above it. I was wondering what type of investments these make and if I should even bother. Id much rather do something like this than waste money renting. Its an ok neighborhood with a lot of foot traffic on a corner lot of 2 main streets. The cost is 45k and rents in that neighborhood are between 500 to 600 plus utilities.

I would live in the upstairs apartment and rent the storefront or possibly use it for other endeavours I occupy myself with.

Any advice? warnings? guidance? :slight_smile: Thanks.

2

I think there’s a lot of local agents. Better search it on the internet. You will get your idea about other properties available there. Hope that’ll help.

3

is the storefront currently rented?

if so - for how long?

what type of business is there (if it’s rented)?

what type of business can rent there (if it’s not rented)?

how “recession-proof” is this type of business?

what’s the condition of the building? do you have money to fix it up and manage it?

45k is very little - i say - go for it if it’s already rented with a tenant that’s been there over 2 years.

then just check the lease they tenant has currently - look for things like rent increases and options and how much longer they have on it.

4

Find a good agent that really knows the market in that area, this will save you tons of trouble. It’s better to spend the time to find a good agent first, than spending the time dealing with troubles afterwards.

5

Find an agent and mentor or successful investor in the area to help evaluate the deal. Do you have any numbers for operations?

6

Verb,

I preface this by saying that we don’t know much past what you’ve given us about the $45K and the market rents (i.e. - condition, RE taxes, etc.)…

That said, from what you posted you are buying this as a residence first, investment second… If that’s the case, if rents are $5-$600 per month… an 80% mortgage at 5.5% would only be around $240-$270 per month, plus your utilities, real estate tax, and insurance…

So you end up owning it, because you want to live there anyway, with a store front you can rent or use to occupy yourself with, as you put it, for less money than you would spend on rent anyway… From that perspective, it’s a no-brainer… This also assumes you can get a mortgage on something like this…

Christopher W could give you some advice on whether that is feasible…

If you were the landlord for someone renting it (local bagel / coffee shop maybe with all the foot traffic), you wouldn’t have to go far to collect the rent… :biggrin