New member from Boston MA

[George White]

Helllloo Bigger Pockets!

New England resident. Working full-time in IT for over 10 years. Trying to work out how to get off the fence and get into the real estate game for the last 8 years (so sad) . I have known for years that real estate is key to building wealth but I am a complete novice to the industry. My dream is to be the first person to own a home since my grandparents moved here.

I have tried to obtain my real estate license twice with no luck, but I do not think it is essential to become successful at investing. 

I am eager to learn as much as I can from the BP community and pass that information on to my friends and family.

[Maureen F.]

@George White --  I agree that the market in the immediate Boston area is overpriced, although you don't need to cross state lines to find something reasonable (Brockton, Worcester, Attleboro etc).  You mentioned Vermont and Rhode Island -- I take it your work location is flexible (work-at-home)?  Anyhow, Boston has a home center with resources about mortgages and homebuying, and many other cities do too.  In Massachusetts we found the MassHousing loan to be the best product, however it has an income limit, and they include some of the rental income in determining whether you're under the limit, so it doesn't work for everyone.  The OneMortgage from MHP also has an income limit -- it's lower but they don't include the rental income in determining program eligibility (they do include part of it in determining debt/income ratio).  However, the big disadvantage of the OneMortgage is that you're required to permanently owner-occupy the home; if you move you have to re-finance.  Also, your credit score generally should be at least 680 for most mortgages.  If you'd like to PM me on this subject please feel free.

As for meeting people, once you start going to the groups mentioned above you'll make contacts, and you can find people on biggerpockets too.

Good luck!