Clock is ticking for Real Estate Agent & Multi in MA

[Jason Bee]

Hi BP community, my dilemma is a 2 fold questions. My wife & I have a nice real estate agent who is a friend from high school but he has not delivered in bringing us houses from the MLS listing nor homes before they go on market. I know Massachusetts, specifically the Boston area is very competitive. We are looking in Boston and in the North Shore (Wakefield, Malden, Andover...etc) and I seem to be searching & trolling all the real estate websites and asking our agent to see houses. We don't get MLS updates nor suggestions for houses. Is this normal for an agent or is it because of the scarcity of available multi's in our market? Should we try and find an agent who has connections to get deals before the multi goes on the market and is that even possible in MA? If anyone knows an agent who can do that for us, that would great.

My second dilemma is my wife wants to get into a SFH soon and start our family, I still am holding out for a multi because in MA you have to put 20% down to buy a second property as an "Investment Property," is there anyway not to put down 20% on your second property in Mass? I also know if we can find a little fixer up single and house hack it, we can re-fi & use the equity to buy the second home. Any thoughts on this would be helpful. Thanks BP Community!

[Jonathan Bombaci]

Hi @Jason Bee househacking in Northshore is very competitive but to echo other people’s comments you should be getting mls updates daily.  Inventory is low but I see 5-15+ Multis posted almost everyday in that area in MA. The market is super competitive so you should expect to put in 5-10 offers before something connects but you should be able to go look at something (whether on or off market) every weekend if you’re being proactive about it. Working with friends is tough it has pros and cons which I think you’re living through. 

Today there were over 20 Multis that hit my email from MLS + a handful of "off markets". Here's a screenshot of some of the multis that came on today in "your area" and there were a couple great multis in Woburn that came on earlier in the week that might be worth looking into. They're out there I promise you just have to get out there.

As per your other question We work with quite a few Househacker's. You can do low down payment loans for more than 1 investment property but you must plan to owner occupy them for at least 1 year. So you could do a 3 family this year and a 2 family next year each with less than 20% down if you move from the 3 family to the 2-family. But if you buy the SFH and the an "Investment property" that you're not owner occupying expect to put down 20-25%.

I hope this helps,

Best,

Jon