All Forum Posts by: Christopher Johanson

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I'm buying a duplex this week, which happens to be a killer deal. Lots of square feet, little cost... good cashflow projections etc. The duplex is floor by floor (as opposed to side by side). The first floor unit is lead-compliant by MA standards. There is however, some lead paint in the upstairs unit that makes it non-lead-compliant. 
According to the MA states laws for lead paint, a landlord must delead the property if a family with children under the age of six want to rent the unit. There's also a law that says you cannot discriminate when choosing renters by the fact that they have children. 

Basically what it looks like is that if I want to rent out that unit publicly, then as soon as a family comes along I'll be FORCED to delead the unit. Because I can't say no, and I can't let them live there.
This seems pretty ridiculous to me. Any solutions? I can't believe MA is so strict, such that any random family could pretty much force you to spend thousands of dollars, at any random time...

Thoughts?

Or anybody with insight, doesn't have to be MA

My girlfriend and I are looking into buying a Duplex in Marlborough, MA coming up.

I spoke to somebody who owns a single family house in Worcester, MA recently and he told me that his water/sewer bill for the two people living in that property was sometimes $500-$1000/mo when combined. That sounded peculiar to me. Seemed high.

Anybody investing in MA, or owning in MA that can speak to their average water bill / sewer bill? Please note how many people are living in that residence also. 

Do you get billed monthly or quarterly? etc...

Thanks,

Chris

It's not about the "ability to buy something"... it's about the dishonesty.

Is this going to be like car dealers who will run you through 5 hard inquiries in 5 minutes? I like to assume people are there to help me but sometimes, its tough.

I understand that it'll rebound. It's just that I'm working on buying now/soon, and I would prefer that I not have to put a bunch of hard inquiries on my report. Also, there is a variance in what percentage rate you get based on your score.

Anybody who thinks 6 points doesn't matter doesn't realize that a score of 723 gets you a better APR than 716.

Today I went with my girlfriend to a bank to talk to them about a mortgage. They asked about our credit and we said we've been working hard to keep it perfect, and they asked if they could look at it.

I specifically asked them whether or not it would appear as a soft inquiry or as a hard inquiry because we're watching our credit numbers like crazy, and hard inquiries have a negative impact.

He assured us that it was a soft inquiry and that there would be no effect.

As soon as we arrived home, both of us received notifications via email that our credit had dropped 6 points, and that a new hard inquiry had been added.

Is this kind of dishonesty just accepted? Is there legal action to be taken? I've been told disputing it is out of the question with the credit beareaus

How are you purchasing this property? Where it makes a difference is what kind of return you are getting on your investment. Cash purchase, or mortgaged... or terms? Also, as is typical in analyzing a property, it goes a long way to do your homework. Find out what kind of property taxes there are, and what the vacancy rates are for the area. The 50% rule is not exactly accurate, and when you're dealing with that small of a profit margin, it leaves you at a risk if you don't know the REAL expenses.

I've found Rentometer.com to be accurate (as it averages historical rent data from 30+ nearby locations near your desired address.) The problem becomes, if there is competition in your area/neighborhood, where a few landlords are charging below market rent in order to quickly fill vacancies, sometimes it's hard to stand out in a positive way. ESPECIALLY if you want to attract good tenants.

Chiming in before the string of people that say "Hard Money." You can always use private money, but the interest rates are high and time is ticking. Since the grand majority of people are likely going to exceed their defined timeline (which you say is 5-6) months, you'd already be out a significant amount of cash by the time the flip was said and done.