Flooded Rental Market

[Peter Pezzano]

I work and live in Boston Ma, I plan on investing in properties within the next year or so, however my biggest concern is that Boston, much like the rest of the country, is in a major building boom! Within the next year, they have projected that there will be 320,000 rental units hitting the market! I believe this is going to have a serious effect on rents. We are already seeing some of these new buildings offering crazy incentives to rent. I'm looking for advice as to whether or not getting into the market now is a good idea. 

[Sara N.]

Hello Peter, Like Boston, the DC market has cranes everywhere and is flooding with luxury, high end rentals--some as much as $4-5K a month for a 2 bedroom apt. in a hot location. Most of these new buildings are too high end. There's only so many (few) peeps who can afford that high end rent. Unless you plan to go into the luxury market, I think you're safe to have lots of commoners to rent to. Look at the data and trend if Boston is gaining more or fewer people moving in the near future? --like most urban areas, I'm confident the city is gaining in population (not loss). People, espec. younger peeps want to be close to where they work and live, some happy be without a car. Getting into the Boston market will be easy to find renters, it is a college town anyways. Find a good, safe location, walkable to the T/subway ideally.   Upgrade your property, rent to professionals, keep your rent a little lower than the competitors to entice more applicants and keep the tenants wanting to stay. I went to college in Boston (too long ago) and have several friends who still live there (and they tell me it's still very competitive to find a nice rental in the city). 

i just did a google search on boston's luxury market. yes, it's saturated, but like I say not everyone's going to afford it.

http://realestate.boston.com/renting/2016/06/10/lu...