Local Real Estate Recomendations

[Tim G.]

Hello BP,

I have been researching/trolling BP for quite some time now waiting until I am at a point in my life where I feel comfortable to start investing in the Rhode Island area. I recently became debt free and have no other loans except my home which I purchased from a company who flips homes ( I got a great deal and I love it). I work full time as a network engineer so have plenty of room for a risk/reward scenario. I learned a vast amount of information during the process of purchasing my own home. Me and my wife were planning on buying/renting a multifamily but we decided against it since we were having a baby soon. I am looking for recommendations on realtors in the Rhode Island area that have experience working with investors as a start. I am also looking to get information on how some of you other investors in Rhode Island started out and if you were in similar situations in the beginning (owning a home and starting to invest). Starting is always the hardest part and I am a stickler for being prepared which makes it even more difficult. I would like to begin with a 3-4 family property in the area to learn the ropes and continue from there. Your recommendations and advice is greatly appreciated. 

Thank You

Tim 

[Anthony Thompson]

Tim, I like it because it's smaller and easier to wrap your head around.

And there's less driving (which, as any Rhode Islander will tell you, is a scary thing - see http://s3.amazonaws.com/citybuzz/2014/07/rhodeisla...)

There's less competition, but the #s are also smaller which means that, say compared to Boston, the profits generally are smaller so you have to work a little harder.

In general I don't view RI as being particularly business friendly, nor this part of the country to have favorable economic/demographic trends. My advice for people considering moving into this market is: look elsewhere.

However if you're already here anyway, you can certainly eke out a living or good investments, if you're willing to put in the work of course.

And despite what headlines may say, I don't find rents to be particularly high here, mainly due to lack of new economic activity and a roughly stable population. If rents have increased I personally think it's only been marginally and probably due more to QE/inflation (see shadowstats.com).

(Though, the theory is that the overall demographic trend in the U.S. toward Millennials having a preference for renting could be part of a mild rise in rents. But I personally haven't seen a huge bump in my travels.)

Hope this helps - be sure to say Hi if you attend one of the RE meetings (I usually make it to RIREIG and occasionally to Black Diamond in southern Mass).