All Forum Posts by: Andrew Sprague

I’m very interested in the Multifamily rental market in Worcester and have set my sights on there upon graduating school in 3 months. Worcester is home to many outstanding colleges and I want to know how to break into that market. Does anybody have experience renting to college students in Worcester? If houses aren’t available on the market that would be plausible for a college rental should I spend my time reaching out to current landlords with college tenants and try to make an offer? Should I focus on other renters altogether if the college scene is too competitive? Any suggestions or insight would be greatly appreciated.

I've been scanning Zillow, Redfin, Realtor, and Trulia looking for solid Small Multifamily deals in the Worcester area. I've noticed that as inventory has dropped the only available properties are rising in price and starting to lose profitability (I am planning on either going through an HML or using an FHA loan and live in the building so my mortgage payments will be fairly high regardless). I've only seen a couple listings on Craigslist for multi families in the area that are FSBO but none that cash flow well considering they require almost total renovation.

I know there must be a decent amount of off market deals circulating in the area as it is a hot market. Where are people finding these deals? Wholesalers? Pocket Listings? Are people doing their own marketing to sellers? Any insight on the subject would be greatly appreciated.

@Mark Bills

Thank you for the reply. That clears up a lot of confusion for me. I did not know the contractor had to be fully licensed and bonded or that the appraisal of the rehab amount was decided after the scope is defined. It seems like lenders will want all of the details provided beforehand. I appreciate the insight and good luck with your purchase.

I've been looking into using the FHA renovation loan. As I understand it allows general rehab up to $35,000 that can be financed into the mortgage. Does anybody have any experience with this loan and can help me understand what scope of work is allowed. Is this a useful loan for updates on the cosmetics of the house or is it just to bring the house to FHA requirements? Any input or advice would be greatly appreciated.

I'm thinking of having a roommate co-sign on a 3-unit through the FHA program. My roommate has essentially the same credit, DTI, income, and age as myself so there should be no issues qualifying for the loan on the house. Is there anything that I'm overlooking, would both of us have to live in the house or just one? Any advice or feedback on co-signing an FHA loan would be helpful.

I’m trying to weigh my options for financing a multi family. In what scenarios would hard money lending work for the down payment and why would it be better or worse than waiting and saving the money. Any advice from people who have gone this route?

Hey Everyone,

I am a rising Senior finance, management and MIS major looking to jump into REI full time as soon as possible. I am 10 hours from finishing my RE license training, looking to take the test in August. I have been researching rental property investing for about 2 years now as I've been saving and earning my degree and I'm getting ready to make my first move in the Providence area or the Greater Boston area. I've built my credit to foster the best interest rates and qualifications for loans and my student debt is fairly low (<20k). In the short term I hope to buy a multi family or SFR, most likely an owner occupant agreement, within the next 12 months. I still have 2 semesters left but with COVID it could hopefully be less. In the long term I want to own multiple properties and get to the point where I can save up enough money from rentals/flips to get into self storage and commercial properties. Since most of my research and knowledge has been on my own time I want to reach out and see if there is anyone who would like to connect and tell me about their experiences with analyzing the market, running estimates and calculations, and scaling up. Any advice, replies, or suggestions are greatly appreciated.