All Forum Posts by: Brian J Allen

it is odd that you have vacancies in Worcester.  I run into people every day just looking for something they can rent.  Many have 3 BR vouchers over $1600/mo.  

@Harry Morrison I would be glad to help you locate properties and perhaps help you find investors.

Jenna, First off Worcester has lots of weird rules in terms of zoning.  Eg. If your extra lot is 5000SF in a Rg5  zoning section you might be able to build a SF on it.  There is a whole grid with frontage requirements etc.  Splitting the lot would give you the most $ in the short term, and if you were the builder or built a spec house you can do really well right now.  Adding a garage with a unit done right could make you money, so would the garages and renting those out.  You can do a cost benefit analysis of this.  Glad to help.  But it all depends on location.  Extra units in Burncoat, West Side and lets call it Umass Med/ Lake ave, give you the most bang for the buck.  Let me know if i can help.

If you are interested in Worcester, i can do a personal tour and see some open houses on a Sunday, or we can find another day

with a Worcester 3 Decker you can modify the layout, add a BR or a BA but you have to know what can easily be done.  The key is to know how much it is to do a roof, siding, windows, door, replace a bathroom, and know what the rent will be after you are done.   But the most important thing in Worcester is the neighborhoods.  That is why a 3 Decker on Hadwen road in good conditions had multiple offers at over $450k and a 3 Decker in some other locations will not.

There are so many people chasing multis in Central MA it is hard to find a deal.  Best is to find something that is imperfect that you can correct.  Those opportunites still exist, the difficulty is they are not fully rented and need work.  it is a QUEST, the ones that are done are gone in a flash to cash or 25% down buyers with no inspections

Builders typically try to hold their lots and save them so they always have something to build on.  I may be able to find a builder who you can contract to build a duplex and work with your financing.

@Nik Lavoie

You can use the same program every year if you have a viable reason to do so. Perhaps a better house. Perhaps a better commute etc. it has to pass the look test of the bank. As for not listing. There are a lot of landlords who want to sell and not let the tenants know. Tenants do a lot of things to sabotage the few like saying there are mice. Or the toilets never work. They realize rents will go up if the building is sold. Also since things are so hot you might get 50 people walking through the units and it really irks the tenants. Long term owners are often more interested in controlling the close date for tax consequence then in another $5-10k. Also they look to avoid the pain and suffering of a deal not working out. They will work with somebody trust and vett the buyer before considering an offer

NIk,

This is a great plan. As Tom mentions you can buy every 12 months with similar low down payment plans. The difficulty in Worcester is that the best value properties in Worcester are not FHA ready and the sellers dont want to sell to FHA buyers if they can get a 5% down Mass Housing buyer or a 20/25% down buyer. The best way to buy FHA is to go NO INSPECTION or buy OFF MARKET. There are great pockets of worcester that have value and are nice places to live, the key is being able to get to work. There are also some owners who will hold paper on a multi as they want to avoid taxes, this is difficult too, but with the right relationships you can get these opportunities. There is a lot of off market trading in worcester.

I have thought the same thing for years.  Worcester has what is called Zero Lot Line zoning.  This allows these to be sold as 1/2 a house and not as condos, so no condo documents need to be created or anything.  The issue comes 30 years from now when you do your roof and they dont.  There are a couple of these out there that you can put back together if you want.  I also know a builder who has some lots and you could purpose build them for rentals if you want.  Let me know if you are interested in chatting about this.  I am in Worcester almost every day.