First-time Invester in Massachusetts: Looking for Advice

[Caitlin Lynch]

Hi! My name is Caitlin and I’m located in Boston, MA. I’m a licensed RE agent and work part-time as an Associate Agent with Redfin and I work full-time in public relations.

I'm so eager to get started in REI and I'm just a little lost and nervous to officially get started. I don't have a ton of capital to put done but I do have good credit and I'm dedicated to this and would love to see REI as my full-time job.

I’m interested in rentals and flipping and am looking at home outside of Boston and would consider souther NH and ME as well if it makes sense to be in a relatively less expensive market. I would love to connect with some folks for advice, tips/tricks, anything! I so excited to be apart of this community and to start networking with you all!

[Jonathan Bombaci]

Welcome! There is a ton of great resources here I’d recommend that you network with people in the community and if you’re looking to buy a place and get started with real estate investing Housrhacking, in my opinion, is the absolute best way to get started. Find a 3-4 unit that makes sense and you’ll be starting from a very strong position and it requires very little capital.

With Redfin if you buy a house yourself do you get the full buyers agent commission? With most brokerages you would but I know the Redfin model is very different. 

Simple math question: If you need 3.5% for a downpayment and you negotiate for the sellers to pay the closing costs, then you get a 2% commission at closing which can be deducted on the HUD, how much capital do you need to buy the property?

Now what if you negotiated a 3% commission?

Now what if you find a motivated seller or target a property that is stuck on market for some reason you can fix within the first year (bad tenants or mismanaged by current owner) and  negotiate a 4% commission? 
Best,