All Forum Posts by: Joshua Olitzky

@Brian Cleary See you there!

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521/topics/37...

Interesting @Cynthia Nina-Soto. Thanks for including (pocket listings), I've actually been wondering what that term referred to. I'm curious why an agent might choose to not list on MLS. I see a lot of listings for Auction.com, is that what you've had luck with or different houses? Also, forgive my ignorance, what's a BPO?

Thanks @Patrick Wheeler for the confirmation, that definitely seems to be the ticket. I know Justin Silverio has mentioned that as well. I plan on going to his meetup that's coming up soon. I see the Dot is yielding some good returns for people, but that would be a nightmare commute for me to the day job in Lexington. I'll probably take a look that way for my second deal. 

@Paul Sorgi got it!

Hello, new here and fairly new to the Boston market. Looking to house hack and live in a unit of a multi family to get investment plan rolling here. I've been looking at Melrose, Medford, Arlington, Belmont, Somerville, and even farther out like Maynard, Acton and Natick. If anybody has any suggestions or advice about those areas that would be much appreciated.

I've also been searching for great agents that work with investors in these markets. It's certainly challenging to find a deal. I've begun some efforts to direct mail, but do not have a solid campaign going yet. Has anyone had success finding deals via them MLS or wholesalers?

Likewise Paul (I haven't yet figured out how you got the @'name' link to work yet). I'll likely have a property management company, I've managed in the past and much prefer not to manage. Finding  a deal in this market is certainly challenging. 

Thanks for the heads up @John D reis. I'll certainly try to minimize risk by vetting tenants as much as possible. Arizona is supposedly a very landlord friendly state and it took me 6 months to get a tenant out.

Hello!

My name is Josh. My wife and I moved to the Boston metro area about 1 year ago now, previous to that spent a few years in southern New Hampshire. My first introduction to real estate investing was back in early 2011 when the market was at absolute bottom in AZ. I house hacked a property and rented it out 1 year later, and it’s performed extremely well. I took a hiatus on investing at the time to take finish my PhD and take a new job in NH. I knew I wanted to continue in real estate investment but back burnered it for a bit (what was I thinking??).

In all honesty though, I got lucky with that house, my knowledge at the time with respect to smart investing was nonexistent. At the time I did recognize that I could buy the house for half of what I could build it for and it was only several years old, how could it be a bad deal (I know Detroit). Over the past few months I discovered BiggerPockets through a friend. I’ve listened to at least one podcast a day, have now read two of Brandon’s books, and many forum/blogs posts. What a wealth of information. I’m so happy to have found all of this. It’s certainly helped to fan the fire and help me to draw the line in the sand to start investing again. This time with a lot more thought and analysis.

I’m now ready to pull the trigger investing in MA. I’ve been working to learn the market here, pre-approved for financing and I’m currently searching for a deal. We plan to buy and hold small multi families for rentals. We’ll again get the ball rolling by house hacking and living in one unit of a multi. I recently realized our target area focus needs some narrowing. We’ve been looking at Melrose, Medford, Arlington, Belmont, Sommerville, and even farther out like Maynard, Acton and Natick. If anybody has any suggestions or advice about those areas that would be much appreciated.