All Forum Posts by: Doug Dias

Good morning. After one year of searching and making offers, we finally have a home under agreement. It is a 4 bed, 2 bath single family property at 111 Lakewood Street, Worcester, MA. 

Question 1) The house is spacious and will be rehabbed before renting. My question to you is, what can I reasonably expect to rent this property for in this neighborhood? One big con for this and other homes on this street is that it is street parking only.

Question 2) I have been looking primarily in Worcester because of all of the improvements planned for the city. Between the new ball park, the $200M+ planned for Worcester airport, and the already completed investments, I really think Worcester will continue to improve as a city in the next decade. Are you Worcester investors in agreement with this line of thought?

Thank you all in advance for your time.

Doug

I’m looking to close on my first investment property this coming January, and I’d like to switch from doing my own taxes to working with a professional. My preference is to work with someone who specializes in working with investors (my goal is to own multiple investment properties).

Any recommendations would be highly appreciated. I am in the Natick, MA area.

Best,

Doug

Donating a percentage is great guys. I'm glad there are still good people in this world.

Hello there,

I've read a little about 1031s. I believe the replacement property has to be greater in value than your current property.

However, with those numbers i'm sure you can find some good cashflowing opportunities. :)

Hi Jessica,

I'm sure you already know this. But in order for a 1031 exchange to happen, you dont need to find a property to trade for your client's properties. All you need is the help of a qualified intermediary, who will do all the propper paperwork and hold the proceeds of the sale. Your client will then have 45 days to find a replacement property and another 45 days to close on them.

Thank you gentlemen very much! I definately listen closely to everything all of you have to say.

Wheatie, thank you again for breaking it down for me and walking me through it step by step, you brought things to my attention that needs to be considered.

I'm jst starting to get worried about my market. I kost definately want to be a real estate investor, it is actually all I have ever wanted to do. But it seems as if my market might be overpriced for me. I guess I will just have to wait for that very motivated seller.

Again guys, thank you for taking the time and giving me your thoughts!

Thank you Michael very much for your reply! You are absolutely right about not looking for properties on the MLS, the likelyhood is that any property that falls there has been looked over by other investors and deemed it unfit. I was only using that property as an examples because I thought it was still a good deal.

The issue here in Boston are home prices. That is the lowest 3 family home in live in condition that I've seen on the MLS for months. Boston is usualy very overpriced.

Do other investors agree that $1000 monthly cashflow is not great for a 50k investment? In my eyes, if I was lucky enough to cashflow $1,000 out of this deal, it would be a 24% anual return on my money. Thats not too shabby considering that the property would also gain equity in the long term.

Again, thank you very much for your input! I need the help of people like you who have actual experience in the business.

Hello everyone,

First and foremost, I am not yet ready to invest. I'm just in my first steps in learning the business.

I'd like your help figuring out if a property like this would be a good deal. It is MLS Listing #70689346 and I've looked at it through ziprealty.com.
This property is in the Boston neighborhood of Dorchester.

For the purpose of this question, I'd like us to assume that this property would be in move in condition and Okayed by an appraiser as in livable conditions. I'd also like us to assume that I put $50,000 down and had another $15,000 to invest in the property after I acquired it.

The house has 3 units, each with 4 bedrooms and 1 bath. The neighborhood is well populated, but tenants would probably be section 8.

Units in this neighborhood, with 4 bedrooms are no less then $1500.

Asking: $330,000
Put down $50,000

Monthly Mortgage (6.5%) = $1,800
Insurance (EST) = $300.00
Taxes (last year) = $525.00
Water (EST) = $500.00
Total expenses: $3,125

Let’s assume I can only get $1400 rent for each property.

Monthly Rental Income = $4200

In my mind this would be a good deal. Of course there are maintenance costs to consider, but could you all give me some input as to whether or not my numbers are way out of proportion? Or if there are other things I should be considering.

Hello everyone,

Wow, I have recently found this forum and I am very impressed with the amount of support that goes on here. It’s really great to see seasoned real estate investors take time from their busy lives to come here and give advice.

I’d love to tell you guys a little about myself and hopefully get a little bit of guidance from you.

I’ve lived in the Boston area all of my live, mostly in the suburbs and more recently right in the city. I’m 22 years old and I knew from a very early age that I wanted to be a real estate investor. Unfortunately, I’ve been caught up in the restaurant industry since I was 15 years old. I’m proud to say that I was successful in that industry (eventually became the youngest General Manager in a 100+ stores company) but at the same time, I feel as if I wasn’t getting anywhere, and have recently left that behind.

Other facts about me are; I have zero money for investments and for personal reasons, I won’t work for the next 3 months. So I’ve decided to study more about my passion (RE) and I have also decided that I want to be a Real Estate agent. I’m aware that being an agent AND an investor might sometimes become a negative thing, but my hopes were that I could make money to buy my own properties and learn more about the industry all at the same time.

Although I love every aspect of RE investment (flippers, foreclosures, etc), my long term goal is to own rental properties, (as many as humanly possible :D ), and considering prices in the Boston neighborhoods that I’m interested in, I’m guessing that I’ll need at least $50,000 before I can buy my first property. (I’ve been eying some 3 family properties in Somerville and Cambridge)

So if you’ve stuck with me and read this entire thing. THANK YOU. Now, if you would be kind enough, could you please give me any feedback? Are you also and agent? And if so, do you feel as if being an investor at the same time as an agent is a bad idea? Do you live in Boston? And if so, what are your feelings about the Boston RE market and good/bad neighborhoods?

Thank you all very much!

Doug