New Investor in Boston Area Looking for House Hacking Advice

[Mohammad Fanaei]

Hello BP Familly:

I am a first-time poster and long-time lurker of the BP forums and have been reading and educating myself using the BP resources for the last year. I've been listening to as many episodes of the podcast as I can and am currently working through Brandon Turners's The Book on Real Estate Investing.

I currently live in Philadelphia and have recently accepted a new job in Boston with a start date of September 1. My plan is to start house hacking at the same time that I move to Boston and use this transition to jumpstart my investment in real estate. I have saved about $100K in cash and would like to buy a duplex with a 5% to 10% downpayment and an FHA loan for financing. The best option would be to buy a side-by-side duplex, each with 2BR and at least one with 2BA. My plan is to rent one of them, live in the other one, and use one of the rooms in the one in which I will be living as a short-term rental (i.e., Airbnb).

I am looking for an investor-friendly real estate agent in the Boston area who is willing to work with me in this process. I would also like to get to know other members of the community who might have used a similar approach either in the region or anywhere else to learn from their experiences and connect with them as like-minded investors.

I appreciate the great community on the BP forums and look forward to getting to know your stories, learning from your experiences, and connecting with you more. Thanks for keeping the community strong!

[Jonathan R McLaughlin]

Ok, first the bad news/stuff:

1) stay away from living in East Boston if you work in Northeastern. A royal pain in the *** as a commute. Through the bottleneck of the tunnel.

2)  Fenway and JP and Allston/Brighton are pretty much out of reach financially for a duplex given the numbers you cite. If you can find something in Allston around the planned Harvard expansion you will do better than fine ultimately. You can find exceptions to my limits above but don't expect it to be quick. Roslindale you have a shot and I'd look there as it has a lot of virtues. You would be looking in the 800s or 900s most likely. 

3) Market is extremely competitive, using an FHA loan is unlikely to succeed. Sellers won't take them if they can avoid it, and they can. I'd be wary of a rocket pre-approval too, not likely to have much credibility but thats less of an issue.

Better stuff:

1) House hacking is a great idea here and the housing stock in Boston was made for it. It is the old model, first generation using rental income to get by and building wealth. You won't "cash flow" but you will be able build equity and have a livable monthly expense. Typical two bedrooms here are around $2600 (you read that right) and thats not a luxury two bed.

2) Northeastern along with the other universities has some pretty nifty benefits around housing such as decent 401K loans etc.

3) I'd look carefully at Hyde Park. It is not the most glamorous part of Boston but some of the housing stock is great and the fairmont line coming in around there offers some upside. Neighboring Milton is a great spot for a house hack and a good commute. People will tell you to look at Dorchester...I agree. But remember Dorchester would be the second biggest city in the state if it wasn't part of Boston so there are lots of different neighborhoods within.

3) The above are all very city of Boston specific. The larger Boston metro area is large and if you want to commute you have a lot of options in various towns. Places of interest within commuting distance maybe waltham, maynard, quincy (mbta connections). Definitely others