First time multi fam home buyer again? What would you do diff?

[Mike Padro]

Hello everyone I am super new with real estate and very excited to be a part of a community of like minded individuals. I do live in taxachusetts and looking to jump into real estate. I’d say I’d be ready to buy within six months and just trying to get a head of the ball and educate myself with as many “If I would get my first property again what would I do different.” Stories as possible! Thanks everyone

[Bryan Mitchell]

I’d run the numbers and estimate my expenses more accurately. Lately, we have been hit all at once with maintenance requests and capital expenses. Of these expenses, the labor costs are fairly high. Also, expenses vary with certain homes. They vary due to age, construction materials, and previous owners maintenance or lack there of (I.e. deferred maintenance). In a perfect world, you would have an inspector come through identify all the areas of concern and have them fixed before or shortly after you took possession. Now, I’m not only talking about the minor concerns, but the big concerns too. For instance, if you know the roof has 2 to 3 years left or the windows of a 1950s house have never been upgraded, you might want to do that. If it has a fuse box or old knob and tube, these things will cost you thousands in the near future if not properly resolved. Think frequent services calls. Most people are not going to have enough for a down payment, cash reserves, and to money to fix things prior to possession or shortly after. Of course you could buy a property in which the previous owner has already addressed all of the big ticket items such as plumbing, HVAC, roof, windows, electric to name a few. However, you are most likely going to pay near, at, or above full market value for that property. I’d take all those things into consideration and determine how you can keep your expenses low. Maintaining the property while keeping your expenses low is key to your success.