Is Amherst MA a good place to invest?

[Lei Qin]

Hi, I live in Boston, where housing price is ridiculously high. I am new to real estate. I'm wondering if Amherst a good town to invest? It's close to UMASS university (~30,000 students), and investing close to a university is a good option?

Thank you for any advice to invest around Boston.

[Jonathan Greene]

If you can get into the market in Amherst, of course it's a good place to invest. Are you trying to house hack and do a student rental in the other side? College rentals are great, but more time intensive and usually better managed by more experienced landlords because college kids break more stuff and don't know how to work a lot of things. I love being near colleges with exceptional graduate programs and you can often get on the housing registry for adjunct faculty coming in for a one year stay.

[Lei Qin]

Thank you Jonathan for your reply. I wasn't aware college kids break more stuff. I thought the opposite. This is good to know! Adjunct faculty does sound like a better idea!

I'm not planning to house hack, just for investment purpose.

[Kyle Spearin]

@Lei Qin I went to UMass and wish I'd bought something there when I graduated. It keeps expanding! The market certainly offers a tremendous pool of renters in the form of students and staff as @Jonathan Greene pointed out. You might also be able to employ a short term rental strategy to increase cashflow-- sporting events, conferences, homecomings, graduation, etc. always attract people to the area.

Ask around and try to find people who are investing in Amherst/Northampton and connect with agents in the area to see what's working.

[Lei Qin]

Thank you Kyle! This is reassuring!