Looking for house hack in MA

[Khyati Malhotra]

Hi

I am looking for house hack in Massachusetts area. My plan is to buy 4 unit multi-family home.

My lease is expiring soon and so want to move to my own home instead of renewing lease.

I also got pre-approval letter from bank so I’m ready to explore properties. 🙂

* Deal finding tips are also welcomed.

Thanks

[Jonathan Bombaci]

Hi @Khyati Malhotra welcome to BP and congratulations on your decision to househack. I househacked about a decade ago and it was the best decision I ever made. I firmly believe househacking is one of the best ways to get started in real estate and we help people househack in MA pretty regularly these days. To @Lien Vuong's point 4 families in the area's you're looking are going to be pretty difficult to find, and competition is going to be fierce. What is your goal?  Is it to live at a discount compared to your rent in a town with good school systems within easy access of Boston?

Sometimes we can meet our clients goals but in more creative, less traditional ways. For example we have one client that we're working on now where they wanted to househack 3-4 family in similar areas you mentioned but we couldn't find one that worked for them, that also meet the FHA limits in Norfolk County. We ended up finding a turnkey legal 2 family with an additional airbnb unit on the back of the house that was legal and approved by the city of Boston. We were able to get their offer accepted and the house is going to work for their purposes, it meets their goals, and is under budget, but it certainly was not what they were originally looking for when we started the process.

I think househacking in the area's your focusing on is a great goal and you can absolutely do it, but I would just recommend being open/flexible with the type of property you're looking for. Focus on the goals you're looking for the property to accomplish and stay open to opportunity when it comes along. That is how we're able to still find good deals in this highly competitive market.   

I wish you the best of luck and please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or are looking for any advice. 

Jon