All Forum Posts by: Aaron Landau

Hey all!

I have a handful of questions regarding filling a vacancy. If anyone has a moment, I would appreciate some feedback on a few things. Also, for context I am renting out my first multifamily property in the Boston area:

- How typical is haggling when it comes to agreeing on rent? If you want your unit to be rented for $3,000 should you post it for $3,200 because everyone will be trying to get that number down?

- What do you use to screen a prospective tenets credit score, eviction history, criminal history, etc.? 

- What parameters do you set for your tenets income in order to rent to them (example: gross income 3x rent)?

Thank you. 

Hey all!

I am making an offer on a multi-family home that has two units. I want both units delivered vacant as both units are a total mess and need a complete overhaul (new flooring, new bathrooms, kitchen, adding a washer/dryer/ etc). One unit is occupied by someone on Mass Housing and they have a lease lasting until November. 

I don't know anything about Mass Housing or subsidized housing laws. Is the process of getting this unit vacant the same as any other standard tenet? Can I simply let them know I do not intend to renew the lease in November, and if they stay it's a standard eviction process the same as a typical tenet?

I just want to make sure I'm not getting myself in a situation that will be a headache as far as inheriting a tenet who I cannot remove. 

Hey all,

I will be extending an offer tonight for a multi-family home that I would be living in. It is a two family home; I will live in one unit and rent out the other. I am trying to get a full understanding of the expenses and the tax implications of having a tenet. 

Is this rental income just added on as income during filing in addition to my income from my main job? (For example, I am in the 24% tax bracket, so I will really only be earning 76% of what I earn from the tenet.)

Is there a resource online that has all the tax write-offs as a landlord?

Any specific advice regarding taxes and rental income?

Thanks!

By not the standard advice I just mean that it's not about flipping it for as cheaply as possible and getting it on the market ASAP for renters. This is a home that my family wants to live in, so we are okay with the repairs being more expensive then what would make sense for a property that is purely an investment property. I am just not familiar with homes this old, so I'm trying to gain an understand of what I would be in for with this older house. 

Hello all!

I am looking at purchasing multi-family house that was built in 1850s. I understand that a home this old obviously needs a lot more attention then a newer build. I am not looking for feedback of ROI and all the standard advice that people give who just flip houses, rent, and repeat. This is a great location where my wife and I really want to live, so we are very interested in this multi-family for personal reasons. I'm trying to do research on what I am in for with getting a home of this age. Does anyone have experience or insight into 1800s homes?

Also, as a side note the posting for this home says, "Buyers and agent to do their own due diligence". I personally do not like seeing this and find it to be a red herring for, "There is a issue, we know about it, but it's on you to figure it out". Does anyone else find that statement to be a red flag?

I would appreciate any insight - thanks!

 Thank you for the suggestion. I just found the information on the mass.gov site. I will definitely look into this. Also, I am not in Cambridge - I did not have the option to put the actual town where I am looking. 

Can you legally rent out an in-law suite?

Help or more information would be very helpful. I see that NACA offers a 5.75% interest rate which would be amazing.

Almost none of the SFH's in our area have finished basements - I'm not sure why that is. The regulations for every town we are interested in living in is that each unit has two egresses, which can be challenging with basement units. They all have a hatch which is one egress, but in order to get the other egress we would need to build out of a cement foundation which would be expensive. We thought it would be easier to divide a home in two on the ground and second floor because adding doors in wooden walls to make an exit would be easier and cheaper then having to make an opening in the foundation.

 Thank you for the response. I would appreciate the guide. 

Hello all,

I am located in Massachusetts and am looking to purchase my first home. I want an investment property as my first home where I live in one unit and rent the other units out. Unfortunately, there are not many multi-family homes in the area my girlfriend and I want to live in. Almost every residential area is zoned for multi-family (I have already checked and verified this) it just so happens that most of the homes on the market are SFH. I want to buy a SFH and convert it to a duplex.

Does anyone have experience with this and how can I go about finding a realtor that specialized in these conversions? 

For those who have done a conversion of SFH into duplex how much would you estimate this costs?