All Forum Posts by: Ellie T.

Thank you everybody for your input.  I really appreciate it and it gave me a lot to think about.  I will try to summarize what some of your ideas were:

My action items are as follows:

- Continue attending local REIA meetings, hoping to find a mentor to save me from some newbie mistakes

- Research other GEO's that are interesting to me and build a local team I can trust and only then purchase

- Call a few management companies or find TK providers.

- Go slow- buy one, learn from it, adjust where needed and move on to next one doing proper due diligence.

- Consider partnering with an experienced investor, assuming we have the same goals, interest and exit strategy.

@Matt Huber   - thanks for the partnership and 401 recommendation.  I do max out my 401K every year, so this is beyond (I am lucky enough to presently be in a high commission software sales position- this won't last long (I have maybe 6-7 years of work left before I become too old to sell software) so this is my only window to invest in RE)

@Gary Singh thank you for the tips- I will definitely reach out.

@Ellen Brodsky that sounds interesting.  Would love to connect and hear more (plus as a skier I am in CO every year).

@Cory Binsfield that's a great list- thank you.  Would love to connect with you and hear what your research unfolded.

@Bryan O. @Thomas S.  I'm still not sure this is the best diversification strategy.   I can buy a local duplex for 650K (close to where I live), or I can buy 2-3 of these in a good area in other remote cities.  Again, assuming I have a kickass remote team- When it comes to vacancies or problem tenants, 1 out of 2 not paying is worse than 1 out of 6 units, right?.  Also, MA is just a bit too tenant friendly in my opinion (I have a friend who dealt with eviction nightmares).

@Kevin Hunter the reality is that even if I go local, I am not going to be able to check on properties more than once a month and will need a local management company.  Its all the same to me if I fly to check or do it locally (actually flying might even be easier since I'm in Columbus or Providence once a month for work anyway).

@Jesse Chunn I like your idea.  I will get on it.

Let me take you through my thinking:

Option a:  wait another 6-9 months, by then I should have about 120K for investments.  I could buy a 460K unit, west of Boston in the natick/framingham area, or look north/south of the city.. either way, what I've seen is that this affords me a duplex that can bring in around 2.5K/month.  I would probably look for an area that's close to the rail so are more desirable for renters- but from I've searched so far, there aren't a lot of options in this price range.

Option b: act now- use the $50K I already have towards one or more triplex/quads in other Geo's where prices are lower.  By year end, own 3-4 of these.  

The way I see it, the cons of option B is remote management, but since I travel to Rhode Island and Columbus, Ohio quite often- its not going to be a special trip to search/oversee these investments. The Pros seem bigger- more units, an emerging market (not like around here), more options of properties to select from and therefore likely a better ROI.

Does this make sense? welcome anyone who disagrees and wants to challenge my thinking.

@Paul Timmins that is really helpful.   Thank you.  Would it be ok if I reached out to you directly?

Thanks Patrick.  I totally agree.  I am not counting on appreciation at all, but I also don't want to find myself with a loan that's bigger than the property can sell for in case of a downturn.

I travel a lot for work to Columbus.  I thought that market might make more sense.  

Anyway I'm open to anything.  If I can find a property that makes sense, there's a good PM, and I can get there every now and then, it will work for me.

Thanks everyone. 

Out of state pros/cons-  The reason I was thinking of picking up several properties out of state was because of risk mitigation.  The more units I have, the less risk it is when there's vacancies or MA market downturn.  Also, with my sense the Massachusetts being priced too high, it may be possible to find 2% (or close to it) deals in other areas.  The cons of remote management seem lower than the cons of a market that may have peeked or fewer units.

Does that line of thinking make sense?

@Dante Pirouz Thank you so much for the quick answer.  How would a partnership like this usually work? 

I'm looking to invest in properties in MA/RI.  Nice to meet you :)