All Forum Posts by: Amanda Bruneau

Please join us for a night of sharing best practices with other investors, discovering new tax strategies specific to real estate, market updates and planning for 2024. The meet up will be held in my office, Residential Properties in Barrington.

*Special Guest: John D. Birs from Capital City Financial Corporation.

John Birs has been a Tax Consultant/Tax Preparer since 1984 and is an expert in providing the most up-to-date knowledge of the ever-changing tax code. He is going to discuss specific topics related to the real estate industry.

There will be appetizers and beverages. 

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $470,000

I represented the buyer in the transaction. My client is going to house hack, live in one unit and rent the other. He found a fabulous house, turn-key, and a great location.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Amanda Bruneau

I am an impulse buyer. The best money-saving strategy for me is not to go into the store. This applies to all things, including grocery shopping. On average I will spend $300.00 at the grocery store a week! I am buying for a family and I like to eat healthy and cook, but I have started buying my groceries online through Superwalmart and my grocery bill has been cut in half which is a huge savings over the course of the month. In addition, it saves me a ton of time. I never buy anything full price with it comes to clothes, etc. I have direct deposit that automatically deposits half of my income into a separate account for investing so I never touch the money. I budget weekly and I write off as much as I can through my business using an app called Hurdlr so I am keeping as much of my income as possible. 

Mini-splits are awesome, air conditioning and heat. The only downside is you have to have the right wall to put them on and it is not the most attractive wall decor. But I am very happy with the result. 

I pay attention to local news to see what is happening with the infrastructure of a town. I want to see where the government is investing money, typically these areas are areas where revitalization is happening or will be happening. If can be at the front lines of this, your ability to purchase it is stronger and you are not paying top dollar. 

Congratulations on your first property and graduating from college. Two BIG accomplishments! It sounds like you have already hired your contractor, so below are just a couple of things to keep in mind. Make sure you are overseeing his work and seeing invoices for material he is purchasing. Contractors can cut corners and overcharge you so be careful. Remember this is a rental so you don't need to go high-end. You want it to look nice and be functional. If you don't like the job he is doing you don't have to stay with him until the end. Don't pay him in advance for all the work, he may not finish if you do. You want to be very clear with what you are asking him to do so there is less room for error. Best of luck! I recently had a client purchase in Woonsocket and is slowly rehabbing each unit as tenants move out. He has completed one rehab, it was a one-bedroom that was rented for $650 before renovations, he just rerented it for $1100! :) 

Have a certain percentage of your paycheck go into an automatic savings account you do not touch! 

Real Estate Goals for 2022:

1. Buy two properties this year, one strictly an investment and the other an AirBnB. 

2. Do weekly planning every Sunday for the upcoming week and forecasting for the following weeks. Including EVERYTHING, work, family, exercise, meal planning

3. Attend monthly meetings for RI investment group.

Thanks for organizing Vlad! You have accomplished so much over the last couple of months, so exciting to see the finished product and share it with others. 

HI @Alex Appolonia! I work with investors all over RI and most of them I meet from BiggerPockets. I would be happy to answer any questions you have. Congratulations on purchasing your first deal!