All Forum Posts by: Carven Boursiquot

UPDATE:

We are considering renovating the entire home/condo conversion with the intention on renting the entire house as an investment property. We are just learning about HELOC loans, but are looking for advise on what would be the best way to pay off the renovations with minimal risk to our personal savings. We hope to use the rent money to pay off the renovation loans and help put a down payment for a second home if possible. So basically flipping our own home and renting it out so we can invest the funds on a new primary residence/etc.

We've already put in some major upgrades this year (high efficiency heating systems, new windows, quartz countertops) which we really hope we will be able to salvage now that we are considering gutting the place entirely.

Now our focus is finding the right contractor to guide us through the renovation with a great plan and reasonable price range. 

Any one have recommendations for contractors who've done great work in the Somerville area?

@Thomas it is hovering somewhere around $1.2 million, it’s a duplex, while living in rhe 2nd unit we charged under market value at $1.7k to attract renters and due to some issues with the space that the renters tolerated. The 2nd unit is in good shape and could easily grab renters around the $3-4k range. 

However with renovations steadily underway we will eventually make the whole house up to code and very comfortable to live in all around.

Our main concern is since we’re both very new to homeownership we were looking for opinions on what would you more seasoned landlords would due if you were placed in our predicament.

As this is a shared property, sister wants to buy a second single family of her own and keep this one as an investment.

I am in the same future mindset, but wouldn’t mind staying put for a while as a landlord living in the home as my financial situation is not as stable as my sister’s to go and purchase a second home.

My sister and I inherited a blessing at a high cost.

Our parents both passed away and we inherited their two family home in Somerville, MA.

My sister and I currently live together in the 2nd unit which has 4 rooms 2 full bathrooms.

We both single working adults, so since it is too large for the both of us we have decided to downgrade. 

We want to rent the 2nd unit and move into the 1st unit which is a a two bedroom 1 full bathroom.

We are currently doing some renovations to the 1st unit to make it polished for us to live in comfortably.

Eventually, we both want to go our separate ways purchasing our own second homes and making our shared inherited property entirely a rental to help pay for our own ventures.

We are both first time homeowners and learning as we go and happy to have stumbled upon this site.

Although we paid off the mortgage of the home, it needs some renovations to get it up to date and fresh looking to attract renters.

We recently updated the heating systems to high efficiency tankless combination units.

However, that was a huge financial investment on our part and are looking to keep our spending down to what is essential, but will help get the house great looking for renters.

Any advice on how to maximize our rental profits in this kind of scenario?

Stats on our home:

Location: Somerville, MA in Union Square

Type: Two multifamily home

Total bedrooms: 6

Total bathrooms: 4

Basement: Partially finished

Any feedback would be awesome.. Thanks!