All Forum Posts by: Daniel McDonald

I’m just north of Boston. House hacked my way into two duplexes. I wouldn’t post your rent for higher and expect someone to try to haggle. That hasn’t happened to me. They are probably not the right tenants for you anyway. Those are the ones who are going to bug you about every little thing. Don’t do it to yourself. I do however keep my a little below market value so I get a bigger tenant pool. Although if you’re renting out right now in Boston winter will seem a little slower. 

Depending on what softwares you use they can usually pay for the background check themselves. I like 3x gross rent scenario, no past evictions, and a credit score of 600+ 

 Feel free to shoot me a DM

Hey @Daniel Marshall I'm a 2x house hacker and Agent in Beverly, MA. Is a traditional loan out of the question for you? Trust me I totallllyyy feel your pain. I bought my first duplex in 2020 and second in 2022. Thought I was way overpaying then and would never make it back, but if you're planning on living in it for awhile I'm always for the house-hacking option. Happy to connect. 

I manage in FL and TN and am charging 25% for STRs and 18% for MTRs. I'm also in a pretty extensive Mastermind for STR PM companies and those rates are pretty standard. My cautionary tale for shopping lower and you need 100% clarity on what's covered and extra fees. With the 25% I charge I'm not expecting you to lift a finger, just collect a check.

I like Salem. By no means cheap but solid rent + demand, fun place to live, decent inventory (relatively speaking), and is still commutable to the city. 

Getting your agent to pull a list from the MLS would be the most accurate way. However, if all else fails I have found rentcast.io to be fairly accurate. It's free too which is nice. 

@William Hall I feel your pain. I live in Beverly, MA (North Shore)I own two duplexes but house hacked both. I want to stay in Beverly, but the price of a SF (which is my next move) is unimaginable. The seller financing topic has come up for me a lot in the last few days. And I really plan on working on it myself when I look for my next house. But I have a client who was looking for a place but can't get traditional financing. I reached out to every active and expired listing in the area they were looking for to ask if the seller would be interested in seller financing options. Most didn't even respond, a few no's, but 2 said they would be open to it. That's really what it comes down to. A numbers game. 

Also, relationships are huge too. I'd been talking to someone who I know is gonna sell their house soon and putting the seller financing plug in their ear. I got nos a few times but just left it as okay well if you change your mind. Sure enough yesterday they came back and said they'd be open to it. I think that one is more realistic than cold calls but less easy to find. Always happy to connect and help where I can.

@Kiran Asknani what part of MA are you thinking? I'm an agent and house hacker in the north shore. I also own a co hosting business but my rentals are in FL and TN. As mentioned above, MA is much more stringent on STR regulations. But luckily MA/NE is so small you can invest in a different state and still be driving distance. Happy to chat through some options. I have access to AirDNA and it has its shortcomings. I wouldn't run a STR without Pricelabs. That's a necessary tool that has some different aspects to it that allows you to see the WHOLE picture. Just shoot me a dm if you have any questions.

@Garrett Brown I can see the Airbnb insights but how do I know what are good benchmarks? 

@David Lewis I've house-hacked both my duplexes in Beverly, MA just north of Boston and I definitely feel your pain. It's easy to see other markets get all the praise because they're cheap and you can buy up properties like Skittles. That's less of an option here. But where you will win in MA is appreciation. Annoying but true. I personally would rather a few properties make up a sizable chunk of my net worth vs. 100 doors that appreciate a thousand a year. Melrose is a great area and will definitely appreciate over the long run. If you can house hack there I totally would. That seems to be the "safer" move when investing in RE.