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Riverdale is a more stable investment, though with either, I would not look for huge gains within five years if you sell, but you would control housing costs and likely not lose money in either. Inwood has QOL issues, but Riverdale is a tale of two neighborhoods.
Post war high-rise buildings have many units on the market at a given time, and are all within a relative price range, depending upon amenities, especially if co-ops. Condos are not as common, and many newer buildings tend to be more luxurious, and/or spacious, which can help when looking for a good investment long-term. If you were looking for a single-family residence, Riverdale would win, not only because of the number of that type of housing in the neighborhood, but the quality of the majority of the structures is very good, many with unique character. Thus, for a co-op, you would not expect any huge gains in Riverdale. Inwood would be similar, though there are pockets where prices could outpace Riverdale, owing to the decreased supply in the areas west of Broadway; however, without decent parking, shopping, and other amenities in the neighborhoods for running a household (Target goes only so far), you would be paying for the cachet of a Manhattan address/area code, but would have the same problems as many other areas of Upper Manhattan with regard to access to diverse shops and services that are of a higher quality, i.e., Whole Foods, Fairway, decent dry cleaner, varied restaurants/take out, etc. -- things that a regular professional household would want in close proximity.
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All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.
~William Shakespeare (As You Like It Act II, Scene VII)
Riverdale is a more stable investment, though with either, I would not look for huge gains within five years if you sell, but you would control housing costs and likely not lose money in either. Inwood has QOL issues, but Riverdale is a tale of two neighborhoods.
Post war high-rise buildings have many units on the market at a given time, and are all within a relative price range, depending upon amenities, especially if co-ops. Condos are not as common, and many newer buildings tend to be more luxurious, and/or spacious, which can help when looking for a good investment long-term. If you were looking for a single-family residence, Riverdale would win, not only because of the number of that type of housing in the neighborhood, but the quality of the majority of the structures is very good, many with unique character. Thus, for a co-op, you would not expect any huge gains in Riverdale. Inwood would be similar, though there are pockets where prices could outpace Riverdale, owing to the decreased supply in the areas west of Broadway; however, without decent parking, shopping, and other amenities in the neighborhoods for running a household (Target goes only so far), you would be paying for the cachet of a Manhattan address/area code, but would have the same problems as many other areas of Upper Manhattan with regard to access to diverse shops and services that are of a higher quality, i.e., Whole Foods, Fairway, decent dry cleaner, varied restaurants/take out, etc. -- things that a regular professional household would want in close proximity.
Very useful information.
The one thing that's drawing me to Inwood in a big way is the A train. It seems like access to lower Manhattan from Riverdale is either a little more complicated or more expensive. I work around 14th St and 9th Ave, so of course, the A is a big draw. And I think that access would help a lot in terms of resale.
On the other hand, it seems like my dollar would go much farther in Riverdale. It seems like you can get a nice view for relatively little money in Riverdale, as well as more space.
The chance for Inwood is that like with the lower parts of manhattan, there is only so much land avaliable and god isn't making anymore of it. There is only so much room to go up (vertical) so sooner or later the people with money will push into other areas whether Brooklyn like it has or maybe higher up in manhattan. The problem with this is the only way for the area to appreciate in value big time is for most of the non white majorities to move out or leases not renewed and there will be pushback. Brooklyn was different because Brooklyn was still an italian/russian/jewish area in the main parts of development.
So time will tell.
Riverdale is the safer bet because of its history. Riverdale still isn't back to where it was in 2007 although the spuyten Duyvil area by the river is really doing well. The market has cooled since 2012 for the rest of riverdale because there is a lot of inventory that is on the market that wasn't listed during the downturn. The problem with Riverdale is that since the downturn there has been a shift in demographics. I believe it was caused by a decrease in rents and decrease in financial standards during the crisis. So some buildings may not see the increases like 2007 brought.
Riverdale definitely has the better quality of life in terms of safety and quietness.
I am already heavily invested in stock and bond index funds.
Keep it like that then. Real estate investing in NYC is only for the big boys (no offense). If you really want to make money in real estate, your best bet is to invest in rental properties out of state and hopefully you have somebody out of state you can trust to run and maintain the properties for you so you don't have to fly out of town once every quarter.
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"The man who sleeps on the floor, can never fall out of bed." -Martin Lawrence
Keep it like that then. Real estate investing in NYC is only for the big boys (no offense). If you really want to make money in real estate, your best bet is to invest in rental properties out of state and hopefully you have somebody out of state you can trust to run and maintain the properties for you so you don't have to fly out of town once every quarter.
If I just wanted to invest in real estate, I would buy into a REIT. But I'm looking for a place to live in as well.
I guess a better way to phrase my question is: I am looking to buy a place to live in, full stop. And with that in mind, which neighborhood do you think has better potential?
Also, when you buy out of state, you can contract a management company to take care of your properties. You pay them something like 9 or 10% of the rent as a fee.
however, without decent parking, shopping, and other amenities in the neighborhoods for running a household (Target goes only so far), you would be paying for the cachet of a Manhattan address/area code, but would have the same problems as many other areas of Upper Manhattan with regard to access to diverse shops and services that are of a higher quality, i.e., Whole Foods, Fairway, decent dry cleaner, varied restaurants/take out, etc. -- things that a regular professional household would want in close proximity.
We just bought in between Inwood and Riverdale, in Marble Hill. The takeout options are limited and a bit expensive (because of the lack of competition), but the grocery shopping is better than when we lived in Astoria. Garden Gourmet on Broadway and 233rd is like a smaller Fairway and the Stop & Shop across the street isn't bad. It's a quick hop up 87 to Home Depot and Stew Leonard's and all kinds of big box, mall type stores. Not too many restaurants, it's true, but that will likely change. Inwood Hill Park is gorgeous, and the farmer's market on Isham Street offers everything you could want, at a fraction of the cost of the Union Square one.
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