Investor from Rhode Island

[Lisa Sullivan]

Hi All!

I'm a new investor in the RI/MA area looking to build a network of other investors/hard money lenders and make connections within the industry. 

Real estate investing is something I have always been interested in, but it was beginning to look like that would not be in the cards for me. About four years ago i was in a much different place in my life, completely stuck in a rut and feeling like I was watching all the doors of opportunity close on me. It felt like it was too late in my life to make a change and go after my dreams. Around that time, almost on a whim, a friend and I signed up for a Krav Maga class together. Little did I know how much that decision would change my life. 

Through this class my friend and I met many people, several of whom I now consider family. We all bonded and supported one another, building each other up and encouraging one another to go after our goals. This group is what inspired me and gave me the confidence to start making changes and working towards building the life I wanted to live. Among my biggest supporters from that group is my now-boyfriend Chris, who has been a phenomenally positive force in my life. As it turns out, we also both shared an interest in real estate investing.

Chris and I got our very first taste of investing earlier this year. We got our hands on a property for very cheap, and Chris quit his job to work on that full time. Meanwhile I remained in my current career to ensure that the bills would still get paid if this did not go according to plan. With very little help or guidance we were able to fumble our way through the renovation, and the house was sold less than 48 hours after entering the market for nearly the full asking price. We cleared a $70k profit on that property and fell in love with house flipping in the process. 

Another friend that Chris and I met through our martial arts training, Steve, expressed an interest in real estate investment to us this past summer. Through several in-depth conversations we determined we would be a good fit for one another business-wise, and we are now all working together towards achieving our dreams.

Where we are now is searching for our next property, and doing everything we can to educate ourselves on this business and build a network. Hopefully before the end of the year I will have another successful flip story to share!

[Anthony Thompson]

Coco, my impression is that Rhode Island is tepid. It struggles with high taxes (property and income - e.g., RI doesn't recognize capital gains and considers it ordinary income), being mostly business unfriendly, and no real engines of economic growth.

It has been doing "generally OK" over the last couple of years but my impression from researching other areas of the country is that other parts of the country are doing MUCH better and currently have much better longer-term prospects.

My standard advice to anyone is that if you're already in RI for some other reason, it's certainly possible with some hard work to eke out an OK real estate investing return, but if you have any choice at all I strongly urge you to research other, higher-economic-growth and more-business-friendly, parts of the country.