All Forum Posts by: Bryan Payne

thank you all for the responses. It appears I have to find a new lender. @Lien Vuong I would definitely take any recommendations on this matter as long as they take clients from the south shore area. 

Hey BP community, I’ve been back on the search for the next multi but I have one question I’m hoping someone can answer. Has there been a change to the down payment minimum (3.5%) on purchasing a primary residence multi family? 

Some background info that might help: I’ve already purchased a 3 family in Massachusetts and am looking for another 2-3 family in MA. My mortgage broker keeps telling me the minimum has changed to 5% for 2 fam, 10% for 3 fam. However I cannot find anything online that says this. Am I missing something? Does it have to do with income levels? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!! Ty

Thank you Nathan, I appreciate your input. There are definitely a lot of factors that go into this and your scenario brings to light some important points. It’s a tough decision for me, mostly because I try to do most of the work around the property. Right now I snow blow the driveway (which is quite large) and it’s gotten to the point where my second winter has brought me to the breaking point. Either buy a plow or pay for the service. I haven’t gotten any quotes to get my driveway done by someone else but I suspect it would be a little more expensive than the average driveway. I’ll definitely do more research on tax deductions but I just wanted to make sure it could be deducted in the first place as it would be used for property maintenance. 

Hey bigger pockets members! Just a quick question. I purchased my first rental property a little over a year ago in Massachusetts. It’s a three family and I do occupy one of the units. My question is: if I were to purchase a plow to plow the driveway and parking spaces, can I get any sort of tax benefit from it? I’m trying to figure out if it makes more sense to hire someone to do it or to make the jump and purchase the (very expensive) plow. Thanks in advance!

Dorothy, thank you so much for all that useful information. I have been updating one of the units, so it's good to hear that it will definitely be worth all the time and effort. I have a limited amount of cash that I'm using instead of taking out a loan for the construction work. Therefore I figured it would be tough to just put another down payment on another MF which if I've been told correctly, would have to be at least 20% if I'm not living in the property?

Hey Josh, thanks! When I was doing all my research, I became overwhelmed. I mean jumping in as not only a new homeowner, but a landlord was a huge step. It got to the point where I knew that I had to just take the plunge and decided that I would be capable of putting in the hard work to become successful. The market in and around Boston is super competitive and the prices are so high that I wasn't sure If i would find something. But the patience paid off and a place popped up at a decent price. It's been a learning process, but I've enjoyed every bit of it. 

Hey guys, I've been researching multifamilies for the past few years and just wanted to say thanks for all the help these articles, posts and comments have been. I've finally purchased a three family home to "house hack" my way into the real estate world. Things are going well, and now that I've made the first investment. I wanted to know more about the next. So my question to you is how long til I can purchase the next MF? I know I have to live in this property for at least a year, but is the rule as a landlord 2 years? Also, any pointers on how to prepare over this year (or 2) to make things go smoothly on the next one? Thanks in advance!