All Forum Posts by: Jessica Stevenson

Hey @Audrius Pauliukonis -  Congrats on starting your investment journey!  You are definitely on a good path here.  Getting out there and seeing properties and taking the time to analyze them can be half the battle and much of the work.  Although the anticipated cashflow seems tempting, and without having all the details, I have to lean towards Joe's opinion here as well for a few reasons: 1) You should be factoring in property management fees.  Whether you pay this to a manager or to yourself, it is going to take your time, gas money, effort, etc to manage this place.  Given the location, are there even reputable property managers available if you ever needed them to take over? 2) How familiar are you with the Lakes Region? It can be very seasonal, and it seems you are generalizing quite a bit about the area (using language like "I'm told" and "should be")  I would lean on the local knowledge of your Realtor as well as your own formal research to help you get a clearer picture of local happenings.  In general, yes, NH is a great place to be with a very low vacancy rate, however remember that these statements are most applicable to the three major cities and their surrounding towns 3) I'm going to assume they left this unit vacant while the property was on the market for ease of showing, but that is something you'll want to confirm. Otherwise, your hunch that $1275/mo is to high will be spot on, and trying to fill this place with a quality tenant over the winter months may prove to be quite difficult.

Hey @Paul Cullen - welcome.  I agree with @Jaysen Medhurst for sure.. spend some time reading through the NH & MA Forums and discussions to see what types of experiences people are having. Additionally, he's absolutely right that MA laws are more tenant-friendly.  I know some investors that live in Boston but refuse to invest in MA for that reason alone (the high cost of entry & low cashflow don't help either).

What are you looking to accomplish with your investing?  Are you looking to buy and hold for many years?  Fix something and sell within a few years?  Owner-occupy/househack?  All of these questions will help point you in the right direction as to where you wan to be.  Don't hesitate to reach out to me directly with any questions, I'm right in Southern New Hampshire and grew up in Mass so I'm quite familiar with both markets.

Welcome @Nicholas Liebig ! You're certainly in the right place.  There's lots of great people here to chat with, and also a few meetups in Manchester/Nashua/Derry area where you can meet these people face to face.  Check the Network > Events tab for regular updates.  Look forward to seeing you at the next networking event!

Congrats @Kayla Boyer !  I'm glad I finally see people mentioning letting your lender know it is an investment property vs owner occupied - it will be part of your application if this is going to be used as a primary residence.  Obviously I don't know the specifics of your situation in terms of down payment etc, but you don't want to inadvertently commit mortgage fraud so it's best to be up front with your lender regarding your intent with the property.

I'd be happy to connect with you about Manchester.  Southern NH is a great place to be right now. 

Hi @Blaise Doremus - ditto what Matt said above.  NH is a great place to be in! Have you connected with a lender to confirm your purchase price?  

Lots of investors do prefer NH for the reasons you stated - more landlord friendly, more affordable pricing, and better cashflow.  Regarding foreclosures, keep in mind that many auctions are cash only, and present a much higher risk because many times you do not know what you're getting into and/or have very limited time for due diligence.  I have no context around if you are a brand new investor or not, but if you are a first time investor just keep that in mind.

@Chris Vanderloo I'm interested to see what types of responses you see here!  

I currently use dotloop for digital filing and electronic signatures.  It's a great way to keep in place all the documents I need to keep a transaction together, make edits, share with any involved party, and be sure everyone has signed. 

Any CRM for an investor or real estate professional is an absolute must.  There's a lot of them out there, all at different price points ranging from about $10/mo to over $120/mo.  Check out realvolve, contactually, less annoying, top producer, liondesk, the list goes on. A CRM that has built in email and mail marketing campaigns is a huge plus.  Haven't found a good (affordable) one yet that specifically targets the multifamily/commercial space.

Marketing apps similar to dealmachine, where you can find a property and put that owner (occupied or absentee) on an automated mail campaign.

I haven't done extensive research yet, but also haven't come across anything that gives me a reliable phone number or email address of potential sellers.  

Just some quick thoughts, but hope this helps :)

Hi @Kevin Quinn - Yes, I'd be happy to help you out, feel free to send me a pm.

@Kyle Hebert - Thanks!

@Tiffany B Alexander Step one: don't give up!  If you've only talked to 'a few' lenders, it just might take talking to a few more, and then a few more after that.  Not all lenders are created equal, and sounds like you need to find one that thinks outside the box.  Having conversations with lenders doesn't affect your credit score, so keep reaching out!  Be as up front as possible about your current situation and see what they have for creative ideas.  And like @Leah Stuever suggested, try all different kinds, big, small, local, private, etc.  Good luck :)

@Candice Crawford just search 'MA closing attorney' and there's lots of good recommendations that pop up from previous forum posts posing this same question