All Forum Posts by: David Barnett

Ah, makes sense.  I don't think this would qualify as a small bank, would probably be more accurately classified as a regional bank.  I believe they are a portfolio lender, which means you might be able to qualify, depending on their risk profile and appetite for non-W2, 1099 workers.

Dan, I'd be happy to share a business banker that I've worked with for the past few years.  I know he's very eager to expand his commercial real estate portfolio for the bank and unofficially told me he can be very sharp on his rates.  Standard 5 year balloon, 20 year amortization.  Please pm me or send me a message on FB if you'd like his contact info.

@Jerome S. I realize I'm a bit late to this thread and happy to share my Twin Cities PM if you'd like to chat with them.  

I agree that it was a good idea that you backed out.  It smells very fishy and I wouldn't trust that Property Management company.  Sure, they might not have had professionally prepared financials for 2019, and where were the financials for 2018?  Unfortunately, it's quite common to run into Property Management companies that don't pull their weight, especially in the Condo Association space.  It's never good to have your investment be contingent on whether the Condo Association PM does their job well.  I think most buyers should vet the PM much more closely than most do.

On the rent issue, I think you'll be able to find a rental in the Boston area at a relatively affordable price.  The fact that most universities are doing mostly remote learning for at least the Fall Term, I think there will be a lot of landlords that are going to be motivated to fill their units, even at a discount.  Otherwise, they could have vacancies until the Spring Term, or maybe even until Fall of 2021.  My educated guess is that there will be a large swath of landlords that would take less rent than no rent to minimize their vacancy expense or a prolonged vacancy.

@Ashley Keeler What part of Minnesota are you looking at potentially investing in?  The reason I ask is that inventory is very tight and you might have trouble finding something in the Metro that you can be all in for $125k-$140k.  

I agree with you on the Minneapolis and St. Paul renter protections that were recently put into place.  I had invested in both Minneapolis and St. Paul and have pumped the breaks on any additional purchases.  It's unfortunate that these cities chose to go that route, and I think that this is going to hurt the people that they are trying to benefit (cue the unintended consequences of the ordinances - including raising rent prices to factor in risk and pricing out more affordable rental options).

I want to preface it by saying that I don't have any rental units in Boston or Boston proper.  I'm not surprised that COVID has had a really bad impact on landlords in Boston.  Although Boston is fairly diverse economically, the fact that most schools/universities are adhering to Baker's density requirements and doing a good portion of the Fall Term remotely, I'm not surprised that there is trouble renting units in the core.  I would recommend reducing the ask price on the rent.  I fear that rental pricing in the core will soften quite a bit (going to get very competitive to attract quality tenants and fill vacancy).

Thanks for sharing your "in the moment" perspective of what you and your friends are going through with the disruption to in person classes in Boston.  Also, nice to hear from another husky (and a D'Amore-McKim attendee, too). I hope some of your friends didn't go to that other university that doesn't have a campus on Comm Ave (just three green line stops on the worst green line branch, the B branch!).  

I think that Boston is going to continue to be hit very hard as the local universities and colleges go mostly to virtual learning this fall.  I anticipate large swaths of the city to be fairly vacant (Allston, Brighton, Mission Hill, etc.).  Might be tough for smaller landlords that don't have the reserves.

I'm very suspicious about this answer.  You mean to tell me that it will be exactly 8 years and 5 months on the dot, no days to spare?  My spidey senses are up!