All Forum Posts by: Elena C.

Thanks, Philip. We called USAA and it seems like the max is $688k after that, we will be have to add down payment. 

Hi BP,

It's been more than a year since I posted an intro and expressed interest in starting my REI journey. We are back on track now. This time, we are ready to dive in. My husband and I are planning to purchase our first SFH. We are planning to live in it for the most part and considering renting out/airbnb the attic or basement.

A little bit about our background, I am currently still a student in Cambridge with a student stipend. My husband (USAF) is moving to Boston in March to work in Hanscom AFB. As of now, renting a one-bedroom apartment cost around $2,400 Cambridge. It will be about the same for an entire house on base, however, I think it is better to just get a SFH with VA loan ($688,850 limit for Middlesex county, 0% down payment) and put that rent money into our mortgage instead. This way, we build up equity in a house and can resell it later on to "break even". Will still feel like we lived there for free if the property appreciate over the years, right?

I am currently looking at buying a SFH in Waltham, Malden, Melrose, Everett, or Revere. Considering house hacking, but we dont know much about it.

Would love to hear from experienced investor in the area. Is this a good way to start off? Any suggestions/advice? 

Is there any meetup in the Boston area?

Thanks!

 

 Hi Jennifer,

Thanks the information provided! I am currently looking at Zillow for "GREAT" single family or multi-family in the range of $45-90k. We can do up to $30k down payment. We think VA loans are good because we want to save as much of our cash as possible for a larger down payment in the Boston area. Thus, if we can do no downpayment and have the mortgage be at less than what we are currently paying for rent (around $1k), we are good to go. As I said many times before, we want to "house hack" in Florida, so we could learn as much as possible this summer before we go into a bigger deal. I am currently reading The Millionaire Real Estate Investor, still trying to figure out what represents a good deal. Havent done any calc yet. As of now, my investor criteria: a SF or MF with 2+ bedrooms, 2+ bathrooms that needs minor to major cosmetic repairs (we are both engineers, so we are willing to learn to make repairs.) Don't want to deal with structural repairs yet. Good cash flow or flip for a profit (looking to make at least $200 from monthly rent or $25,000 from flip). I haven't studied the market enough to know if those are good or bad criteria. Goal: buy a property by August.

I should be in Florida by June. Will attend the meetups and definitely reach out to you. 

I find condo a bit more complicated to deal with. If I am not mistaken, buying sf or mf give you more control and also access to the lot, so you could add extra and expand if that is what we want. So far, we only plan to buy single family in Florida, improve, sell or rent after he moves. It will give us a platform to gain experience on how to DIY and fix houses. Currently, we are looking at SF in the $40~90k range.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions! We will try to attend one of the local meetups once I am there.

 Thanks for the information and advice! 

 Hi Stuart,

Thanks for the quick reply! I may be staying very late in the lab, so probably not good to commute an hour away. I will take that into consideration though. Hope to meet you at future meetups. Thanks for sharing your experience again!   

Hello, I am looking to invest with my fiance in the Fort Walton Beach area in the next couple of months before the end of summer. If you are a realtor, investor (military or not), or know about the market in the area, I would like to connect with you.

We haven't bought a single property yet, but are very excited to start this journey together! Fort Walton Beach seems to have more affordable houses, but not much is going on in the area except for the summer. 

A little bit about us: I am starting graduate school in Cambridge, MA this fall, so we are also planning to buy multi-family there later this year. My fiance is currently stationed in Florida, so he won't be going anywhere in the next year or two. We are looking into getting VA loans or traditional loans depending on which one allows us to use less of our cash for a single family. We plan to use this opportunity to learn more about real estate. We are okay with paying the mortgage ourselves as long as it is lower than his current rent at least until he decides to move. After that, we hope to sell it for a profit or make it a rental property.

Is there any other neighborhood in Florida that we should take into account? 

All suggestions are welcome. 

Hi Stuart, 

I have a car, so I could easily commute from Malden to Cambridge, but in the winter I rather take public transport. It seems like it will take about an hour commute to Cambridge. May not be appealing to grad students. 

 How's your experience been? Were you able to find tenants?

Thanks for the suggestions, I will check out future meet up. 

 Hi Jonathan, thanks for the suggestions. I glanced at it a bit. 35min from Quincy to Cambridge by taking the Red-Line sounds good, however, Quincy was flooded a few weeks back, right? Maybe it is one of the places I should avoid if I want to invest long-term?

 Hi Jonathan,

Yes, I am serious about investing in real estate. My fiance is currently based in Pensacola, Fl. We are thinking about starting investing in Fl this summer since the entry is much lower. Probably start by getting a VA loans with 0-10% down and use that opportunity to gain practical experience. Maybe start by flipping houses to get a sense of how everything works. I think it is smarter to put his housing allowance into getting a single family house than renting a condo.

After that, I will get into multi-family in Boston area ideally near the T or public transportation to Cambridge. The sooner I learn and invest in that market, the more I could save in rent. From what I have seen, I will be paying around $1,500/month. That is $130,000+ by end of PhD!