Anyone here invest in real estate? Give me some pointers?
 

I want to buy something just to rent it out. Im in Boston and the prices ar through the roof but so is the rental market.
Would I be better off buying a condo and renting it out? a townhouse? or a home?
The multis in my area start at $600k and thats out of my range.

What do you look for when you want to buy a house and rent it out?
I read 2 books, one said to only buy homes with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths and another book ssaid to go for condos.

New Bedford, Fall River, or Providence :2 cents:

The prices there are still reasonable.

I co-own a house in New Bedford and Providence. 3 Family in Providence that I rent out. I'm the manager so it kind of sucks when they complain about something. Prices in the city are out of control. My father has a 3 family in Roxbury (of all places) that is worth about 950k

New Bedford Sucks & Property Taxes in Prov are crazy

But after rent is paid me and my partner still have some change to play around with. Were hoping the market will improve down there. And we're filtering most of the money right back into the houses. We might refinance the house in fall river as im getting fucked on my school loans.

you could also try Western Mass. The reason I suggested southern ma/RI is because of the low prices. Boston real estate can kill.

make sure you get the facts about association fees or condo fees before you buy.

Also, dont hestiate to start with smaller rent places.

Sometimes you can get 4 places for the price of one and diversify your risk. example, one vacancy doesn't put you out of buisness.
If you want to go really low, get places where the people get the government to pay their rent. Thats low risk, but usually some initial cash investment to renivate to code.

Buying rent property is making your money work you. Good luck

i thought about providence but I thought equity will build up faster in the home if I go near Boston, since its bigger than providence.

True but in MA the Metro West area or waaayyyy up North are the only places where your going to find decent houses for under 600k.

If I had to choose, Prov would be it... its a growing city. Growing Cities are good for rentals. NB and Fall River dont look to be growing at all...

Somewhere close to downtown would be good, or maybe Federal Hill area

Somewhere farther out but still blue/white collar might work. Maybe Natick or Framingham. Check some of the farther-out suburbs, the demand is just as high for housing there. Somerville too.

buy low and sell high!

an up and coming donald trump here

I own serveral properties and where I have made good cash flow acquisitions have been in up and coming commuter towns just outside Toronto. You might want to check around Boston (45min to 1 hour away). You might be suprised to find that alot of people are moving out of Boston due to not being able to afford the rent or wanting to get away from the city lifestyle.

Good luck!

DH

thats great advice, thanks DH.
people will really commute that far? I must be spoiled working from home lol

by the way, do you look for single families, multi families, condos or townhouses when you look for something to buy?

Stay out of New Bedford, too many shootings down there lol

I own a few in Mansfield mass, i get great rents there. Also you might want to look at taunton, i have one there full of section 8 (south shore housing) Paying me $1400 for 3 bedrooms 1200 for a 2 bedroom so you might want to look into that as well. You can hit me up on icq if you have any questions

you have cash to invest? otherwise if you get another mortgage, you will be paying high percentages..

Doesn't matter if he still builds cash flow from it, sometimes it's better to have less cash in the property at higher interest rates because your return on investment is still much better.

Like they said above, look for smaller towns that are still growing.
Make sure that rent covers expenses + mortgage and that you have at least a 10% extra as cash flow and buffer.

Project in time the increase of property value, taxes, rent and costs to have a better picture too.

hmmm Taunton doesnt sound like a bad idea... I might have to start looking there myself.

id really rather get something closer to Boston, like watertown, waltham, arlington, belmont, newton, natick, framingham.
I just dont know if theres some kind of formula you look for before deciding if a property is right for you

Florida condo's are on fire.

They had a new development that hasn't even been built yet open the sales office and 600 people were in line with $15,000 deposit checks. Only 300 units.

Its crazy time.

There's a development in South Beach where the builder got over $1 Million for a 270 sq ft. cabana. Over $3,000 a sq. ft.

Nutzo, its starting to be like California down here.

Yeah taunton isn't bad at all, i highly suggest you look into section 8 or south shore housing. They are paying upwards to 1500 for a 3 bedroom if it's in good condition.

Do you own any rental properties or just looking to get into it?

Is it difficult dealing with section 8? do you have to visit the unit often for inspections or anything? Do the tenants tend to stay long or are they more transient and you have high turnover?

I have only had it for a yr. or so but i haven't had one problem yet. The good thing about section 8 is they cut you a check so you dont have to worry about collecting rent. As far as inspections go they inspect your apt and give you a rating. The higher the rating the more money they will pay.

Some people dont like section 8 but if you screen the tenants you wont have any problems.

Section 8 is bad for anyone who cares about Real Estate. It brings down house values, and just sucks overall. If these people can't afford to live somewhere then maybe they should just stick to projects. I don't want to sound harsh but thats just how it is. They are fucking with my money.

And Taunton is the next Brockton....Do you really want to go that route? Cape Verdeans are fucking ruining everything/

Go Qualicum