All Forum Posts by: Amy Paradis

@Megan Phillips I’m in!

Blair Knowles I am planning on being there!

Late to the game but if I’m not working, count me in!

@Shane Brown We haven't had any issues. The 4 day vacancy we did have was due to poor planning on my part but we were able to fill it once we discounted the rent a little for the first month. The winter is a much more challenging time to rent and we recently came close to a vacancy but found a great tenant just before we ran out of time. In general, we try to plan at least 60 days ahead of time for any vacancy coming up which means reaching out to tenants (if we want them to renew well ahead of time) and advertising early. Once we are 45 days away from the vacancy, we post it wherever we can. Renting from December-February is just more challenging in VT as no one wants to move in this cold/sleet/disgusting-ness. 

The biggest mistake we made as new investors was taking a tenant just to avoid a vacancy. Trust me, that was a $15,000 lesson. It is always better to leave a place vacant for a few months then take a less-then-qualified tenant. I've heard it is a common mistake for rookie investors as a place not cash-flowing is a fear. In hindsight, a vacant month or two would have been A LOT cheaper. 

You will find the older homes do require a lot more attention in terms of repairs. As for setting a certain percentage, like Mike said, it depends on a lot of different factors. 

For us, in both of our duplexes in St Albans City, our longest vacancy (outside of a planned, one month marathon rehab) has been 4 days since 2013 when we purchased them. There is certainly a demand for apartments that are well managed and in good shape in St Albans City. That said, it is important to make sure the apartment can carry with vacancy built into it. I agree with Andrew, that 15% seems high although if you are taking time to do the work, you might have to plan for these vacancies. 

As for PMI, mine drops off at 80%. I haven't used FHA but I have heard depending on the financing, some loans have PMI for the life of the loan. We used New England Federal Credit Unions ARM loan that only required 5% down for our owner occupied duplex.

@Matt Vezina, I'm a little late to this thread but I would also give New England Federal Credit Union a shout. I used their 5% down ARM loan (capped for adjustments) and had a great experience with them. I purchased the duplex I live in with this program. Our other duplex, I utilized a commercial loan (required 20% down for a 2 family) also from NEFCU. Phenomenal experience on both the residential and commercial sides. The closing fees were lower then other banks- I recently went to refinance out of our ARM loan and just couldn't pull the trigger when I saw closing fees of $5,000, if I remember correctly, the bank fees associated with closing were more then double. Give me a shout if you have any questions.

@megan Phillips Feel free to give me a shout if you want to discuss the St Albans market more. I have a duplex on the corner of Lincoln/Bishop right above the park (owner occupied) and another a few houses north on Lincoln St. We also looked into the FHA program as the owner occupied duplex was my first multi family purchase. I chose to go with the NEFCU arm loan instead which only required 5% down with no hoops to jump through. I can put you in touch with my loan officer there, if you have any interest-he's fantastic. I've looked into Enosburg as well due to the low purchase price. My fear in that market is demand for housing and finding qualified tenants as there is not an overwhelming amount of employers in the area. We might venture into that market at some point but right now we are sticking to investing in St Albans. Anyway, I'm available on here or I'm always down for a pint at 14th Star to talk shop!

Hi, I ran into a similar problem in Burlington (started by purchasing a condo for just under $150k in Burlington and rented out a room). Eventually life and real estate investing took me to St Albans-- I commute to Williston every day and it's manageable. I find the properties in St A have much stronger numbers and returns- plus they aren't typically anywhere near the 300k mark. We also had our worst tenants in my condo in Burlington. Finding tenants is more about having a sound and consistent screening process then the area, as long as you have a rental that is decent. Feel free to reach out with any questions. We have a few duplexes in the St Albans area and have explored other markers in Vermont as well. Amy

Wow! Thanks for all of the responses! I am overwhelmed and plan on reaching out when time allows to those of you that offered more information. As a follow up, are there property management firms in these areas? Right now, we are trying to wrap up 2 renovations and finalize a tenant changeover before we move forward with anything either here or in Alaska. Thank you, thank you and thank you! Your state is beautiful. I welcome all of your responses and any other posts folks might have! Again, thank you and if I can be of any assistance, please let me know.

Hi All, We are investors that live and have a few duplexes in Northern Vermont. We are returning from a trip in Alaska. To say that we love the state would be an understatement. We wanted to evaluate buying property and returning to Alaska, at some point. We are casually investigating the prospect of an investment (and possibly an out right move although I love my current job and there are not any similar positions in Alaska as I am a crime analyst for a PD). Anyway, Anchorage seemed to have diverse neighborhoods and with the size of the population, seems to have long term growth potential and a stable rental market but the prices in A and B neighborhoods seem to provide little room for growth at the present rates (if see otherwise, please tell me why so I can look into it!) That said, Wasilla caught my attention given recent growth, proximity to Anchorage and lower tax rate. Eagle River seemed to be an interesting area with the military bases. I absolutely loved Seward but that seems too seasonal to be a realistic option. Our initial thought was to buy a multi family and maintain one side as an area we can use a few times a year, possibly turning it into an AirBnB. We would consider other avenues of investing. This post is my Hail Mary in terms of getting some indication if this is even worth while in trying to pursue. I am curious if there are other investors in the area or in Alaska that has any advice as to the strength of the rental market, how finding tenants go, if anyone does not live locally to their investments or anything we may find of use! Ideally, we would find an investment within an hour or so of an airport with commercial Flights such as Anchorage or Fairbanks. I am writing this from the airport while area names and ideas were fresh in my head. If you are an investor or resident of Alaska-- I am overwhelmed by your incredible state. Thanks, Amy