Anyone have experience investing in Pittsfield, MA?

Question

Hi,

I am a new investor and came across what I believe is a great multi-family investment property in Pittsfield, MA.  Was wondering if anyone has had any experience investing in the area and could provide any information regarding the following:

1.  Is this a good area to invest(in your experience)?

2.  What can you normally charge for rent for a 1bd or 2bd apartment?

3. Any breakdown of the general cost of expenses?

Any information is highly appreciated.

Jaysen Medhurst · Answer

Hi, @Matt Deochan. I like the area and have considered a few properties in the area (Pittsfield, N. Adams, Williamstown). I'm focusing on other areas currently, but here's what I like:

• Approachable prices.
• Good rental stock.
• Good cash flow.

I wouldn't go into the area expecting terrific appreciation. It's really a cash flow market. Use Craigslist and other sites to see market rates. I think ~$750 for 1bed and ~$1000 for 2bed is what I was seeing. Higher in the "nicer" towns.

The expenses are pretty standard, though older properties mean you have to be planning for more maintenance and initial repairs. The challenges I found, and these were strongly echoed by established investors that I talked to, are:

• Not great property management
• Expensive construction/maintenance costs due to a lack of skilled labor.

There are cool things happening up there. Feel free to reach out by DM if I can offer anything further.

Cory E. · Answer

@Devin Rock

Hey Devin,

For multi-family purchases most of the local lenders are great. Bay Equity, Greylock Federal, and Adams Community. If you're looking into flips I can recommend a hard money lender.

Feel free to reach out if you want a specific contact at either bank or if you want to chat about investing in the area.

Alan Brown · Answer

Howdy other pittsfield investors!  You guys really did nail it in your description, @Cory E. and @Jaysen Medhurst... Welcome @Matt Deochan!

I've got a couple of buildings in Pittsfield now;  Cash flow can be great I'm finding, and I do think there are a lot of good deals out there if you're willing to look off market and put in some capX.  Right now there's a billionaire who's buying up some areas near where some new higher paying jobs are coming in, but there are lots of other areas that are at the margins of the good areas, that might do well with some fixing up.

I'm hoping I can bring up my area, and buy some more properties in some other sections of town that will be coming up.

I do have some serious issues, though, with the landlord laws in MASS.  I was not warned when I bought in, which kind of pissed me off (why was I paying this realtor to rep me???  why did my new property manager not clue me in?  These issues were so dumb I never would have thought to ask about them), such as:  if you evict someone, and they bolt, YOU the landlord have to pay a certain moving company (apparently the only one in pittsfield authorized by the city to handle this endeavor) to move the tenant's belongings into storage, until such time as your loser tenant finds another place to live, and then, YOU have to pay for their stuff to be professionally moved again, AND you have to pay for something like 3 months worth of storage!!!

My tenant had just been busted for selling oxycontin on a street corner, so she was a proven loser, yet I would be responsible for her sad disgusting belongings... $2700 later you've still got to clean up and make ready for a new tenant.

Cant' charge late fees!!  none!  Why DOES anyone pay rent, I wonder?  I have to pay late fees to my mortgagor... Who came up with these rules?  I'm all for treating tenants well and fairly, giving them great places to live, but these ridiculous laws make no sense.

I'm not positive, but I don't think you can charge extra for pets either... And I've been told you may not necessarily be able to charge a tenant out of their deposit for cleaning fees... only for actual damage.  So why clean when you move out???   What are we trying to teach these good people?  that you don't have to make your payments on time, don't have to clean up after yourself?

Cory, do you know why these laws are like that?  obviously a lot of slumlords or something, but these rules don't make any sense in any reality I know of.  Do you know if anyone is trying to change these laws?  Any landlord associations that you know of trying to change things?

BTW, I'm just discovering (I bought in a hurry on a 1031 schedule, so my due diligence was a bit sloppy on these!) that water bills for my 4 plex are almost 3 times those of my tri plex.  Also, for a 4plex you have to pay $800 a year for garbage pick up, while a 3plex is free!  They seem to not like anything over a 3plex....

Also, I've just recently found a Fannie mae lender who will do small multi families, but most lenders there seem to consider investor properties (of any size) commercial, and charge commercial rates for ARMs and 20 year amortizations... not sure what that's about.

Very different place from other states I've invested in so I'm up in the air how much more I'll put into MASS, but I love the Berkshires and Pittsfield is an excellent market, on it's way up I think.

Zillow's zip code yearly market report (not that I've ever trusted Zillow much), if I remember right, said appreciation there was around 7%, and they figured it to be about the same for the next year.  That's certainly not bad, I'd really like to get to know the SFH market better and would love to do some flips.

Meetup anyone?

Cory E. · Answer

Hey Matt,

I grew up in the area and currently invest. I am also a Broker, so I have a pretty good handle on most areas throughout the county.

Everything Jaysen said is almost spot on. Cash flow is great, but you won't see much appreciation. Rents in Pittsfield for a 1 bedroom would be $700-750 with nothing included and for a 2 bedroom you can see $800-950 with nothing included. Some of these numbers depend on the location of course.

Traditional expenses would be insurance, property taxes, water/sewer, property management fees, lawn care, snow removal.  Water bills just went up quite a bit in Pittsfield, but you can always get your water metered to lower your costs. Good labor is also hard to find.

Let me know if you have any other specific questions, happy to help!

Devin Rock · Answer

@Cory E. Who do you use for investor friendly lending in the Berkshires?

I’m looking at multi-families up to 4 units. I no longer live in the area.

Devin Rock · Answer

@Matt Deochan like anywhere location is important because some areas can be very difficult.

I’m interested in multi families anywhere in the Berkshires because the price is so low. I was interested in a couple places in Adams, but the rents seem low. I’ll have to continue running numbers.

Conor Meehan · Answer

Great thread - I think Pittsfield is a great area to invest in.  Regarding late fees, you can't charge a late fee until the rent is 30 days past due

Tj Hines · Answer

@Matt Deochan

Is this a good area to invest(in your experience)? (Check Trulia Heat Map, Spotcrime.com, crimereports.com)

2. What can you normally charge for rent for a 1bd or 2bd apartment? (Check zillow and craigslist. Also join local restate clubs in your area. You can find them in your area on meetup.com. There you will find a few seasoned investors who you can network with and ultimately work together with resources you both have.)

3. Any breakdown of the general cost of expenses? (If you're not sure how to estimate repairs on a property, your best bet is to get a licensed contractor and inspector to thoroughly check the property for any potential issues)

Cory E. · Answer

Hey Alan,

In general MA is a very difficult state to be a landlord in, but I was aware of that before I invested. It all really comes down to screening and you have to be firm on your rental criteria. Regarding late fees, I was unaware you could not charge, but I am going to ask my attorney to confirm. From a quick Google search it appears you are right.

Yes, when you go through an eviction if the tenant bails you have to pay bonded movers and storage assuming the stuff left behind has any value. I have seen the sheriff deem all property left behind trash and of no value. Unfortunately, there is only one approved company for the area.

I know Pittsfield recently made it so a 4-family has to hire a private trash removal company and 3 or less units have it taken away for free. Well, its included in property taxes.

Regarding the water/sewer bills, yes they are out of hand now. As soon as property taxes went down earlier this year, water/sewer went up. So whatever you saved in taxes is now charged in your water/sewer bills. I think its around $115 or so per quarter for unmetered houses. So you must be paying $460 ish per quarter in your 4-family? I would highly recommend getting your water metered. I save a ton and it pays for itself in like 2 years.

Happy to answer any more questions about the area and would definitely meet up!

Anyone have experience investing in Pittsfield, MA?

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