First Rental - Upstate NY / Southern VT / Western MA

[Josh Fli]

Hello,

Long time lurker first post. Currently I live in Upstate NY(East of Albany) not far from the Vermont/Mass border.  Looking into buying my first rental property and I was wondering which state would be the most advantageous to have a rental in. I work HVAC/Plumbing by day and would most likely buy a property that could use some work then proceed to rent it out. Any input or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance to everyone on this site it is a very valuable resource

[Derreck Wells]

I don't know the laws in VT, but MA is very tenant friendly, meaning most of the laws are slanted against the property owner when trying to evict. 

MA also has some of the strictest lead laws in the country. In MA, if the property isn't deleaded when you buy it, you are responsible for the past tenants that may have been lead poisoned while living there unless you delead within 90 days of closing. The state is trying to get every rental property in MA lead safe, and they figured this was the best way to do it.

However, you can use this in your negotiations on any new properties you look at. If it doesn't have a lead certificate on file, it IS going to cost you to delead, the state has pretty much made it mandatory at this point, at least if you want to avoid the liability of a lead paint lawsuit from a past tenant. I've had clients negotiate $20k off the selling price, and I only charged them $10k for the deleading, so it can actually work in your favor for it not to have been done yet.

You also cannot rent to someone with a child under 6 unless you have a lead certificate on file with the state. If you rent to a couple with no kids and they have a baby, you are then required to delead the unit with the added expense of putting the tenants up in a hotel during the process.

If a unit is a 2 or 3 bedroom, chances are you'll end up having a family apply. You cannot deny the family because of the lead paint either, that's considered discrimination (you're refusing them because they have a kid, even if you're just trying to protect that kid) and is against the anti-discrimination laws of the state. If there are kids under 6, you NEED to have the unit deleaded and have a lead certificate on file.

If the unit has been inspected, but not deleaded, you also cannot do any construction or remodeling in the unit, they consider that unauthorized deleading and it will prevent you from ever getting a lead cert. The best you would be able to get is a Letter of Environmental Protection, which tells everyone you did illegal work then hired a licensed deleader in to fix it. It generally increases your insurance rate and decreases your tenant pool (who wants to rent from a shady landlord that does illegal work?).

If you delead the property it will actually increase your tenant pool and the rent you'll be able to charge them. A deleaded unit is more valuable to a tenant then a non-deleaded unit, even if they don't have kids under 6, they still like to know they are safe from lead paint issues. Anyone can get high blood lead levels, the law only specifies under 6 because it affects the developing brain more severely then a it affects a fully developed brain.

If you want to message me any Massachusetts addresses you become interested in, I can check the database and see if there was ever an inspection done on the property for you. I'll be able to tell if there's a lead cert on file already too. Maybe you'll get lucky and it's already been done.

Good Luck on your future investment!