All Forum Posts by: Eddie Fleckenstein

Hey @Brad Washburn, 

Awesome to see your looking to buy your first investment property so quick out of college! My partner and I just purchased a 3 family 11 bed in Chelsea. It was close to $1m and we were able to secure it with a FHA loan because it was able to pass sustainability rules. I found it on Zillow right as it came on the market so luckily we were able to arrange a tour of the property a couple days before the open house.

Couple of thoughts (some might be obvious but I don't know what you know)...

1. You're gonna want to start building a relationship with an agent(s) preferably ones who are investors themselves. They can start regularly sending you MLS listings and having that relationship will allow you to act fast when you see something you like. The agent being an investor is not critical but its a big deal. Most agents will tell you they work with investors but looking at a property as a place live vs looking at a property as an investment is a completely different mindset.

2. Really do your homework on FHA and 203k loans. Really make sure you understand how FHA sustainability requirements work for multi-family properties (3 and 4 families). Don't blindly trust that your agent and mortgage broker understand how they work.

3. See if you qualify for any Massachusetts first time home buyer assistant programs. 

4. Look for properties with higher bedroom apartments. We were looking at 3 families house with 2 bedroom apartments and the numbers weren't working for it cash flowing after we moved out.

5. Leverage the calculators on this site or that you can find online. We got into a bidding war for our house and being able to rerun the numbers right after hearing you need to submit a higher offer is invaluable to make sure the numbers still work for you at the higher price. 

7. Be ready for closing costs. They will be more higher than you think. 

6. Get a good mortgage broker who really understands how FHA loans work. Most of them will tell you they know how FHA works, but only a few of them specialize in FHA/203k loans and truly know the rules back and front. We were referred to a broker by our agent who wasn't doing a good job at all. Luckily someone on BP help us get connected with the Mortgage broker who specialized in FHA and his quote was $30k less (no, I'm not exaggerating).

7. Look into joining local real estate groups! BP is incredible but getting out and meeting like-minded real estate people in your area is 100% worth it. 

8. This is completely a personal preference, but going through the buying process for the first time I did not like working with people who were trying to tell me and my partner what we should do. In the end the people we had the best experience with were the people who shared their knowledge and experience but let us make our own decisions. Remember, it's vital to have good relationships with agents, mortgage brokers, insurance agents, ect. BUT you're the buyer and they work for you, not the other way around. 

Hope this is helpful. Its awesome to see that you're jumping into the real estate investing world so early!  

- Ed

Hi Everyone! 

My partner and I remember recently purchased our first property which is a 3 family in Chelsea Massachusetts (very tenant friendly state). My partner and I will be landlord occupying. The building has 1 unit vacant and 2 occupied. Both of the current tenant's leases end on 8/31. We decided to renew the lease for the tenants in unit 1 and are asking the tenant in unit 2 to leave because she did not meet our application requirements.

In Massachusetts we are required to provide 30-day notice by the end of August if we want to tenant to leave by September 30th. The tenant does not speak English only Spanish although her sister speaks English and has translated for her so far. My partner and I are also concerned that she might not leave after the 30-Day notice and its possible we could have to file for eviction. 

I'm wondering:

1. Are their requirements for what needs to be in a 30-day notice form? 

2. The current tenant is the only one on the lease but has 2 other "roommates" living there (that we know of) who are not on the lease (Its a 4 bedroom apartment). Any advice on how to word the 30-Day notice to ensure from a legal perspective that means all people currently living in the unit? 

2. Are there templates or resources on how to make a Massachusetts 30-day notice form that meet any or all legal requirements for the form?  

3. Are there any 30-day notice templates in Spanish? 

4. If the answer for point 3 is no, should I hire a translation service to professionally translate the 30-day notice to ensure the translation is accurate and will be seen as valid in court (if it comes to that)? 

5. I'm thinking of mailing the 30-day noticed from the post office direct recorded mail so I have a record that the notice was sent to my tenant. I would mail both an English and Spanish copy of the form. Is that sufficient or are the further steps that I should take to prove notice was sent to the tenant? 

Appreciate any advice or guidance, don't want to get this wrong! 

Hey @Russell Brazil! Thats a great point, it is a FHA loan.

Hey everyone! In the process of purchasing my first property. It is a 3 family property in Chelsea MA (right next to Boston) that will be owner occupied. I'm looking to schedule a home inspection for the first time. Because of the competitive market we waved the right to inspection so the inspection will be for informational purposes only. 

I'm looking at home inspectors and some of them offer additional services for extra money (i.e termite inspection). I'm thinking some of these services might be worth the money for peace of mind or to be aware of something I can fix after the purchase before it becomes a bigger expense down the road. 

With that said, I don't want to waste money on tests that aren't needed, and I don't want to voluntarily go looking for something that could slow down or mess up the mortgage approval process. 

Any advice for a newbie investor on do's or do not's for home inspections? 

Thanks so much! 

Ed

Thanks for everyone's comments! We actually found a 3 family in Chelsea and my significant other and I had our offer accepted! Going through the closing process now, hopefully it all works out! 

Hi Everyone! 

Im looking to purchase a multi-family property in the Boston area. This is a first time purchase for myself and my significant other. It will be as a house-hack to stop paying rent and to begin a real estate investment portfolio. The plan is to live in the property for at least a year, then repeat the process by purchasing a new multi-family property, move into the new property, with the first property cash flowing once its fully rented and no longer owner occupied. 

Boston is obviously a very expensive market and when I run numbers on properties seems as though even getting to the 1% rule is hard to do. Does anyone investing in multi-families in Boston have advice on what you look for when purchasing multi-families that cash flow?