NYC Real Estate Market 2020: 5 Affordable Neighborhoods for Buying a Rental Property

You might think that all NYC real estate investors are rich, right? How else can they afford to buy property in NYC? Just take a look at the median property price for the NYC real estate market, according to Mashvisor’s data:

• Median Property Price: $1,116,333
• Price per Square Foot: $622

That’s pretty steep compared to the median price for the US housing market – $342,000 for June 2020 as reported by Realtor.com.

So while it’s true that real estate prices are quite high in the current NYC real estate market, there are neighborhoods where you can find affordable real estate. And even ways to find affordable real estate that is actually profitable. 

Here are the 5 most affordable NYC neighborhoods. We’ve included Mashvisor’s neighborhood data for each of the most affordable neighborhoods in NYC. That way, you will have an idea of what kind of returns you can get when buying a rental property.

5 Most Affordable Neighborhoods in NYC

Note that most of the neighborhoods on this list still have a median property price above that of the national median. Still, they are relatively affordable real estate markets in the New York City housing market.

#1. University Heights
       Median Property Price: $329,999

• Price to Rent Ratio: 17
• Traditional Rental Income: $1,635
• Traditional Cap Rate: 1.4%

#2. Mariner’s Harbor
       Median Property Price: $417,238

• Price to Rent Ratio: 19
• Traditional Rental Income: $1,874
• Traditional Cap Rate: 1.8%

#3. Arverne
       Median Property Price: $520,264

• Price to Rent Ratio: 18
• Traditional Rental Income: $2,451
• Traditional Cap Rate: 1.9%

#4. Bay Terrace
       Median Property Price: $586,796

• Price to Rent Ratio: 22
• Traditional Rental Income: $2,230
• Traditional Cap Rate: 0.8%

#5. High Bridge
       Median Property Price: $594,500

• Price to Rent Ratio: 27
• Traditional Rental Income: $1,823
• Traditional Cap Rate: 1.8%

How to Find Affordable Properties in the NYC Real Estate Market 2020

You now have a list of the best neighborhoods in NYC for anyone looking for a bargain. You could go ahead and start your search for investment properties for sale now in these neighborhoods. However, there are two tools that Mashvisor offers that will ensure:

• You quickly find cheap investment properties for sale
• You find cheap properties that promise a good return on investment

So, if you’re interested in avoiding the NYC real estate market trend of high prices, then check out Mashvisor’s Rental Property Finder or the Mashvisor Property Marketplace.

Mashvisor’s Rental Property Finder

This is a great real estate investment tool for finding rental properties for sale within your budget. Sign up for Mashvisor and access the tool. Set the location to the NYC real estate market (New York, NY). You have a few more filters to play around with here but first set the Budget filter. We went ahead and set our budget to $50k to $250k. We also set the Rental Strategy filter to Traditional as a non-owner occupied Airbnb NYC property cannot operate legally. This tool automatically returns NYC investment properties for sale that match the set criteria and have the highest return on investment in the city. Take a look (all filters mentioned pictured below):

Mashvisor’s Rental Property Finder – Affordable Real Estate in NYC

The other filters you can use include:

• Miles from the City – How far from the city center do you want to conduct your investment property search?
• Type of Property – Are you looking for single family homes, multi family homes, or condos in the NYC housing market? You have a few different options.
• Number of Bedrooms and Bathrooms – Perhaps you want to rent out the investment property on a room-by-room basis. Or you just want to be able to charge more for rent. Choose the number of beds and baths that you have in mind for your future NYC rental property.

Setting more filters allows you to narrow down your search for property in the NYC residential real estate market. That way, you only spend time analyzing properties that meet your initial requirements.

Related: The Best Way to Find Rental Property for Sale: AI

The Mashvisor Property Marketplace

A good way to find affordable properties in the New York City real estate market is to search for off market properties. The Mashvisor Property Marketplace is the best platform for off market properties. Our database includes NYC foreclosures, short sales, bank owned homes, and auction properties. It works in a similar way to the Rental Property Finder and that’s through a set of filters.

Once again, make sure you are signed up for Mashvisor so you can access the Marketplace. Set the location to the NYC real estate market. With this tool, we’ll go even lower with the budget, with a maximum of around $100k. And here are the top off market properties in the NYC real estate market:

Mashvisor Property Marketplace – Off Market Properties in NYC

The other filters you can select include:

• Miles from the City
• Rental Strategy (Airbnb vs Traditional)
• Type of Property
• Number of Bedrooms and Bathrooms
• Cap Rate – Looking for a high cap rate property for sale in the NYC real estate market? Be sure to set this filter.
• Cash on Cash Return – Want to make sure you get the best return on your investment? Setting this filter will show you the NYC income properties with the highest cash on cash return. 
• Listing Type – Choose between Foreclosure, MLS, Needs Repair, or Tenant-Occupied.

Related: The Best Tool to Find Off Market Properties

Once you’ve found a few investment properties for sale that look promising from either tool, you will want to analyze them. Remember, just because an NYC real estate investment property is cheap, that doesn’t automatically make it a good deal. You have to ensure it will be profitable by conducting a rental property analysis. Do this in minutes with Mashvisor’s rental property calculator. This tool will show you figures specific to an investment property like the rental income, cash flow, cap rate, cash on cash return, occupancy rate, and more.

Start Investing in NYC Real Estate Today (Without Breaking the Bank)

Buying property in NYC can definitely be expensive. But you don’t have to pay $1 million. In fact, you can pay much less. Either start your search for property in one of the most affordable neighborhoods in the NYC real estate market listed above or turn to Mashvisor’s real estate investment software.

Start your 7-day free trial today to start finding and analyzing affordable properties in the NYC real estate market.