The Auburn/Syracuse, NY Market

Location: 
This is a beautiful area of rolling hills and lakes that encompasses The Finger Lakes, Syracuse, and smaller cities of  Geneva, Auburn, Cortland, Oswego
and Ithaca. There are 4 great seasons including a snowy winter. 

Real Estate Market:
CNN/Money Fortune Magazine online in December, 2006 named Syracuse the #1 market in the Northeast and #5 nationally for appreciation in 2007 and 2008. We are here for cash flow and appreciation is a bonus. The real estate market is one of the most undervalued markets in the country according to the annual NAR and USA Today market surveys. There has been a lot of appreciation in commercial buildings that has not hit residential buildings yet.  Houses in decent urban areas can be purchased in the $50,000 to $80,000 range that will rent for $700 to $1000 per month. Houses in the suburbs and rural areas can be found in the $60,000 to $120,000 range that can be rented or lease/optioned from $800 to $1300 per month. Appreciation has been 5%-10% per year  over the last 5 years. Duplexes, triplexes and quads also cash flow well. Taxes run 3% to 3 ½% per year. The Central New York area avoided the sub prime fiasco as it related to appreciation in 2007.  Actual sales prices are up an average of 5% in the market year to year.

Economy: 
This is traditional rust belt economy in transition. While many industries went south to warmer weather, employment is stabilized and actually increasing in Syracuse. There are diversified manufacturing and service companies here including Lockheed, many of the drug companies, high tech and food companies.  Higher education is a major employer with Syracuse University, Cornell, Hobart, Colgate, Cortland State and Oswego State in the area. A major retail development, Destiny, USA started construction this spring.  It will be larger than the Mall of America, when complete.   There are $2 billion of construction projects due to begin in the next 2 years in the city. Phase 3 includes a large hotel complex on Onondaga Lake and totally “green”
Construction in the area.

Principal: 
Bob Shaw is native of Central New York with an AB from Cornell and an MBA from Harvard.  Bob is a graduate of table 8 and an active alumni member. He is a master coach with over 100 Live Out Loud and Big Table clients. In the last 3  years, he has raised over $4,000,000 in opm to purchase 200 cash flow houses in central New York. These houses are lease/options and rentals held in our own account for cash flow and appreciation or rehabs that have been sold to investors.

Field Partners: 
As an investor with East/West Properties, you will have access to our field partners. New York uses attorneys to close real estate deals and we have some  of the top real estate attorneys in Central New York. We utilize the property management services of 3 different companies who compete for your account.    New York is a landlord friendly state. Evictions take 4 to 6 weeks, usually. Our mortgage brokers and insurance agents are investor friendly. 

Lease/Option Houses:  
Tenant/owners who want lease/option houses typically want them in the better school districts (not Syracuse schools). We do well in the blue collar suburbs, smaller cities and rural areas. Houses run $60,000 to $120,000, lease for $800 to $1300/mo. The benefits are: you get a downpayment up front and the tenant is responsible for most repairs.  The minuses are: the tenant usually has a credit problem and it takes longer and costs more to lease/option a house than to rent it.    Each deal will be different depending on the tax rates, the mortgage, rents, vacancy and maintenance.

Rental houses: 
Our rental properties can be found anywhere, although more of them are in the urban areas, near public transportation and businesses   We also have rentals in the smaller cities of Auburn, Geneva, Cortland and Rome. 

If you are interested in getting more information on any of opportunities, please call us at 831-425-7311 or email me at bob@east-westproperties.com