New investor in Boston, MA

[Carly M.]

Hi BP community! I am a new investor in the Lexington, MA area and trying to determine which areas to focus on for long term rentals. I’m open to SFHs and MFHs and would like to find something in the Greater Boston area. Any suggestions as to which areas I should focus on?

[Charlie MacPherson]

@Carly M. The advice I've given so many applies here as well.  Look in Plymouth, Norfolk and Bristol counties - essentially everything south of Boston, from RT 128 to the South Shore and South Coast.

Lets look at closed sales on 3-plex homes closed in the last 6 months. For what you'll pay for a triple decker in JP (average $1.5M), you can buy at least three in Plymouth (average $434,950) or Middleboro (average $449,000).

Compare that to Cambridge (average $1.84M) or Somerville (average $1.47M).

Prices here are a LOT more reasonable and the MBTA Commuter Rail gives us great access to Boston without the slings and arrows of RT 3 traffic.  Plus for the same investment, you'll diversify your risk of a bad tenant across 3 times the doors.