Looking to Build My Core Four for BRRRR or House Hacking

[Logan French]

Hello! 

My wife and I just moved to Boston, MA and we are very motivated to start investing in real estate in nearby areas (house hack would have to be near Brigham and Women's Hospital for work requirements, but the BRRRR could be anywhere within 2 hours of the Fenway area). We are new to real estate investing, but we have done our homework. We are looking to build our rockstar core four (agent, lender, contractor and property manager). If anyone has any suggestions for the core four or any tips on investing in or around these areas, please let me know. Also, I am excited to be part of the community here, so if there is anyway I can help you, just let me know.

Thank you!

[Andrew Valeri]

@Logan French Congrats, starting off is an exciting time! 

If your plan is to buy - then yes get pre approved. Otherwise if a deal comes your way it could pass you by if you are not "ready" which is likely how a seller would see you if not pre-approved. 

I am not well versed on how the physician loans work - not sure if only certain lenders carry them. Not every bank that carries them may also lend on Multifamily properties. The loan product you find may dictate what your house search/business plan may look like. 

You will want to talk to lenders about how refinancing would work down the road with this type of loan if the goal would ultimately be a BRRRR. Conventional loans when discharged (principle is paid in full) has the remaining interest wiped away. This is not the case with some loans. Some have a pre-payment penalty (paying off the principle early will require the remaining interest balance to be paid to discharge the loan.)

You may find out after talking to 25 lenders that one of the possible plans you had may not be an option and instead you have to pivot to plan b.

My recommendation would be to get crystal clear with what your goal is.

Before coming up with your team - decided what you want/can do and reverse-engineer the solution by knowing where you want to get. The team you assemble may be different depending on your goal.

What is your first deal? A house hack or BRRRR? May depend on how your loan is structured

Next is location? It's different from buying a single family when you can make anywhere within a certain radius work. This is where your business will be. Location is a factor in your pricing and therefore the purchase price will need to make sense because it is tied to profit.

A property manager may be able to point you in the right direction of what areas yield what for rent and where to stay away from. However if you are going to live there or in the area I would recommend getting to know the area yourself. Know where you like and where you don't. If you or your wife don't feel comfortable in an area  - a tenant like yourself or your wife will be driven away. 

I'm in Attleboro, about 35 minutes south of Boston. I work in RI and Wife works outside of Boston so we picked something along the T line. Figured if we were a couple that was splitting between Providence and Boston there were likely other couples that would look for an in between point. 

Maybe you take a similar approach and look for a housing "solution" that works for those in the medical field.

Feel free to reach out. I'd love to hear about how your lender search goes!

Good Luck,

Andy