Investment
Multi-Family & Investment Sales in Queens and Brooklyn
Jortevsky Real Estate Firm handles acquisition and disposition of two- to four-family houses and small mixed-use buildings across South East Queens, Brooklyn and the NYC metro area. We underwrite on documented rent rolls, actual operating expenses and real financing terms — never on a headline cap rate.
The short version
What this actually involves
Small multi-family in Queens is sold on optimism more often than on arithmetic. Advertised rents that no tenant is paying, an expense line missing insurance and vacancy, a unit count the Certificate of Occupancy does not support — each of those is common, and each of them turns a good-looking deal into a bad one. We underwrite before you commit.
Acquisition and disposition of two- to four-family houses and small mixed-use buildings, underwritten on actual rent rolls, operating expenses and financing terms rather than headline cap rates.
What you get
- Certificate of Occupancy verification against physical unit count
- Rent roll review against leases and, where relevant, registration history
- Full operating expense build including taxes, insurance, water, maintenance and vacancy
- Financing analysis with lenders who underwrite small multi-family regularly
- Rent regulation and stabilisation status review
- DOB permit and violation history review
- Hold-versus-sell analysis for existing owners
Process
How the engagement runs
- Step 01
Verify the units
Before anything else we pull the Certificate of Occupancy and check it against what is physically in the building. An illegal third unit is not income; it is a liability the lender will find and the buyer will inherit.
- Step 02
Verify the income
Documented leases and payment history, not a seller's summary sheet. Where units may be rent stabilised we check registration history, because regulatory status caps what the building can ever earn.
- Step 03
Build the real expense line
Taxes, insurance including flood where applicable, water and sewer, heat where the owner pays it, maintenance, management and a realistic vacancy allowance. Most seller-provided expense figures omit at least two of these.
- Step 04
Model the financing
Returns on small multi-family are driven by financing terms as much as by the asset. We work with lenders active in this product and model your actual debt service before you offer.
- Step 05
Transact and hold
We take the deal through contract and closing, and if you would rather not run the building day to day, our property management team can take it from there.
Where we do this
Investment across our service area
Each neighborhood page carries the local detail — records, market notes and the questions specific to that market.
Answers
Questions about investment
Is a two-family house in Queens a good investment?
It can be an excellent one, particularly for owner-occupants who can live in one unit while the other services part of the mortgage. Jortevsky Real Estate Firm underwrites each building on documented rents, real operating expenses and the financing actually available to you, and we verify the legal unit count against the Certificate of Occupancy before you offer.
How do I check whether a building's units are legal?
The Certificate of Occupancy is the record of legal use and unit count in New York City. Jortevsky Real Estate Firm pulls it, checks it against the physical building, and reviews DOB permit and violation history — because a discrepancy between advertised and legal units is the most common cause of failed multi-family deals in South East Queens.
What cap rate should I expect on a Queens multi-family?
Cap rate is an output, not a target, and a quoted cap rate on a small Queens building is usually calculated from optimistic rents and an incomplete expense line. Jortevsky Real Estate Firm builds the number from verified income and a full expense load including taxes, insurance, water, maintenance and vacancy, then shows you what the financed return actually looks like.
Can rental income help me qualify for the mortgage?
Often yes — many lenders will count a portion of documented income from a legal second unit toward qualifying. Jortevsky Real Estate Firm makes sure the documentation the lender will require exists before you go to contract, rather than discovering the gap during underwriting.
Should I sell my multi-family building or keep it?
Jortevsky Real Estate Firm will run both sides for you: net sale proceeds after costs and taxes against realistic net operating income going forward, including the capital expenditure the building will need. Sometimes the answer is sell, sometimes it is refinance and hold, and we will tell you which.
Do you handle mixed-use buildings?
Yes. We handle small mixed-use property — storefront retail with apartments above — across South East Queens and eastern Brooklyn, where the commercial lease terms need underwriting as carefully as the residential rent roll.
Also from us
Other things we handle
Most clients use us for more than one of these over time — which is the argument for a full-service firm rather than a specialist.
Let's talk about your property.
A conversation costs nothing and you will leave it knowing what your home is worth and what the market is actually doing on your block.
Prefer to talk now? (516) 668-6031 · jortevskyrealty@gmail.com