All Forum Posts by: Kevin Andrews

I'd work on educating yourself. I live in Seekonk and formally owned a rental property in Pawtucket that I recently sold. It went pretty quickly and for the price I wanted. So what I mean by educating yourself, is to know the market and know what it will take to get into a house. If you are looking for a fixer upper, it helps to know about how much it will cost to fix it up. Most houses in an area such as Pawtucket are also going to rent for different prices depending in what part of Pawtucket you are looking in. If you hone in on a smaller area of Pawtucket, you limit yourself to the number of available houses, but you will also be able to determine how much all those houses will rent for and will be able to easily recognize a good deal when it pops up.

Also, work on making contacts in the area by visiting/joining a local REIA group. I am in the same position you are in, where I actually have found some great properties with numbers that work well, but I don't have the contacts right now to jump in to a fixer upper and get a price for rehab before the more experienced investors come in and scoop it up. Also, in our market a lot of stuff is going to people who are looking to live in the houses and are not just investing.

Also just one more quick tip, get pre-approved for a loan before looking for houses. It will help with your offers.

I understand your frustration, and I commend you for going around and actively looking for deals. It sounds like you have done some learning in the past few months on BP, but really get to know the market by connecting with agents and other contacts through the REIA groups. And if this agent isn't jumping quick enough for you to get your offer in early, there are many others in the area that I'm sure would be happy to help.

Good luck on your journey into RE investing.

Kevin

Hi Elizabeth. I am not speaking from experience here but I am from seekonk not too far from Attleboro and pawtucket and I can say that it depends on the motivation of the bank and also depends on the market and condition of the house. I saw a foreclosed home here in seekonk which is a very desirable town get sold for 170000 last year and someone scooped it up and fixed it and it is now listed for 409000. From the pictures I saw it looked like a pretty high end remodel. Now I don't know if they will get 409000 for it, I would guess more like 380000, but even at that I bet they are clearing more than 50000 profit. So it really depends on the house and the demand for the house. I say put in an offer and see what happens. The worst they can say is no. 

Definitely have to say the time last year when I tried to unclog a drain myself at my 3 family home and being old cast iron it was so brittle that it snapped where it connected to the main drain. Luckily I have an awesome plumber and handyman who came out within 2 hours and had everything patched up in another 2 hours.

thanks for the response @Brandon Ingegneri I PMed you. 

In Rhode Island

Hi everyone. I'm looking for a reference for a good electrician to add some boxes to an apartment and to diagnose some other electric issues. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks on advance

Hi James. Not sure if this will help as I am in Rhode Island but you might be able to get a good referral from Sharon from Lead Safe RI. The website is www.leadsaferi.com.  I've used them in the past and they have always been good to me. Not sure if they will do MA property but they may know of someone in MA to help you. Good luck!

Great job Amy. Congratulations!! 

Thanks for the reassurance Travis.

Hi all. I don't really have a question here. Just wanted to put it out there that every time I accept a tenant I get knots in my stomach. I did the due diligence and eveything looks good. But a new situation for me...I'm allowing dogs in my apartment for the first time. I'm trying to be more pet friendly as this opens up a wider prospect of tenants to choose from. I'm OK with cats and have not had problems with them before. Also 1 of the dogs is a service dog for a disabled adult so I know I can't descriminate there. Very nervous..we will see how it goes