New Investor - Looking for a New Investment

[Mike Miller]

Hi everyone - first time bigger pockets forum poster here. Hope ya'll can help!

I am a new real estate investor. I currently joint own a 2-unit in Wrentham, MA with my brother and we have some start up capital that we are looking to invest into our second multi-family property. We live in the suburbs of Boston and are looking to invest in that general area. I am not sure if anyone is familiar with the area but it is pretty desirable as it is a short commute to both Boston and Providence and is a great spot to grow up with tons to do (I would know I spent my entire life here and even though I hate the cold Im willing to bet that I'm a lifer here). 

I guess my question would be what are the first steps you would take to find a property and what type of criteria would you include on a criteria list prior to finding a property (I have a family friend who is a better than good realtor for the area that agreed to put me on an alert list for anytime a property crosses her desk - she simply asked to provide her with some investment criteria).

Thanks and looking forward to some responses!

[Luan Oliveira]

@Mike Miller

Hey Mike! Welcome! You'll find plenty of us from around the area on here. I grew up in Everett and now live and invest in the Providence area.

You'll find different answers from everyone on here. I personally like 3+ family properties where the monthly rent totals at least 1 percent of the purchase price. I also like rent ready properties where the work needed is minimal. If you're willing to take on more work, then you'll probably get better returns.

I'd suggest taking a step back and assessing your risk tolerance and exactly what you want from investing, then you can start crafting some criteria. There's many different ways to make money investing, but you have to figure out what you're comfortable with. Perhaps of you told us a bit more about what you're expecting from your investments then we could throw out some ideas!