Rental Property Investor · Charleston, SC · Member since 2018 · 1 post · 0 votes
Hello all!
Long time member, first time poster here. I am an officer in the US Navy who will soon be stationed in Groton, CT. Coming from South Carolina and California, property in this area seems to be fairly affordable, and back-of-the-envelope math on at least a few on-market properties seem decent. My plan would be a multi-family house hack for the time I am stationed there transitioning to a standalone rental property. My question to y'all is, aside from the high property tax rate, and increased heating expensed, are there any other big factors I may be failing to consider in my analysis? Does anyone here have firsthand experience in this area and have any recommendations for someone in my position?
Depending on the property setup, don't forget to account for snow removal in the winter months. We had a bit of a brutal winter this year and those who forgot to account for snow removal in their numbers are feeling it, I'm sure.
It's not uncommon for houses here in Connecticut to have oil fired boilers / furnaces so when you begin looking at properties, keep an eye for that, as tenants will shy away from those units. The preference up here is natural gas as it is cheaper to heat with.
Depending on the property setup, don't forget to account for snow removal in the winter months. We had a bit of a brutal winter this year and those who forgot to account for snow removal in their numbers are feeling it, I'm sure.
It's not uncommon for houses here in Connecticut to have oil fired boilers / furnaces so when you begin looking at properties, keep an eye for that, as tenants will shy away from those units. The preference up here is natural gas as it is cheaper to heat with.
New to Real Estate · Naugatuck, CT · Member since 2020 · 9 posts · 6 votes
5y
Hey Joseph, and early welcome to CT, thank you for your service! It seems like you have a pretty good idea of what to expect, and Felipe brought up a couple good points.
It just so happens I came across a listing from a Facebook group page. It's an investment property in New London with owner financing available. I did not run any hard numbers on this deal, but I figured I'd at least put it here for you to take a look at. New London is a little far from where I'm looking, but is right in the Groton area. You can view the listing through the following link: https://www.facebook.com/group...
Investor · North Stonington, CT · Member since 2014 · 393 posts · 228 votes
5y
@Joseph T. Williams Welcome to BP. New London County can be a great place to buy a house hack. We have a small meetup once a month via Zoom. I'll send you a private message with some more information.
Long time member, first time poster here. I am an officer in the US Navy who will soon be stationed in Groton, CT. Coming from South Carolina and California, property in this area seems to be fairly affordable, and back-of-the-envelope math on at least a few on-market properties seem decent. My plan would be a multi-family house hack for the time I am stationed there transitioning to a standalone rental property. My question to y'all is, aside from the high property tax rate, and increased heating expensed, are there any other big factors I may be failing to consider in my analysis? Does anyone here have firsthand experience in this area and have any recommendations for someone in my position?
Best regards,
Joseph
What did you fully include in your analysis here? Write it out
I got stationed here in 2003 and I've never left. (Sub Nuke) I know the general idea in the Navy is that it's a terrible place, "Rotten Groton" but it's really not. New England has a ton to offer. Sure it's not as nice a SC or almost anywhere on the West coast, but keep an open mind and it'll grow on you.
@Filipe Pereira has some great points about snow removal. If you are buying a large multi and depending on the setup, you may have a commercial dumpster to pay for, or common area cleaning. I will disagree with him on one point though. Since natural gas is only in a few locations in the Groton - New London area, tenants don't really have a negative reaction to the lack of it. Ha! in fact, I have had a few tenants shy away from a unit with gas...scares them I guess. Too many action movies is my guess.
When doing the analysis, I recommend that you don't compare tax rates with other locations, it will give you a false sense of proportion. You will think the taxes are outrageous and may cause panic. Perhaps our taxes are high, but are rents are generally higher as well to compensate. Also, even though you are house hacking, run the numbers like you are not and make sure you add a percentage for property management. Down the road you will want to hire someone and you still want the numbers to work.
A lot of our properties around here ae converted SFHs, so be prepared for that. They are also old so take that into consideration when looking. And when you are looking, look fast. Properties that are priced right are moving in 3 days or less right now with multiple offers. I'm sure you've noticed this as you've been searching for properties.
Let me know if I can be of any help to you locally while you look.