All Forum Posts by: Kevin Hutchens

@James Sheehan

Welcome to BP! I just sent you a PM. Reach out anytime!

@Sean Connolly

Jack Conway is the best place to be for a new agent in Massachusetts. Amazing training, great brokers and so much support!

Hi @Enrique Colbert

My wife and I were looking to add on to our home in Sandwich and that’s about what got for prices. The job isn’t likely as large as yours so that might have been a factor too.

Besides the per sqft price the wait time to get anyone is worse, they quoted us at 8 months out minimum. It’s a little ridiculous right now.

Selling May honestly be your best option is that makes sense for you. The market is incredibly high right now (I’m sure you know that) and even homes that need work are going for strong prices.

I’d be happy to help you determine what your house is worth so you can make a more informed decision on whether to fix it up, tear it down or sell it.

I’ll send you a private message with my info.

@Collin H.

50% is way too much, we would self manage at that point.

Thank you everyone for your option on Self Managing vs PM for a STR, it wasn't the question I asked but still very interesting to hear everyone's stories. We are considering both and there are pros and cons for both and a lot to consider before we choose.

Does anyone else have any more information on what percentage they pay their PM for STR? From the comments above I'm seeing 15-35%. Obviously it varies by services offered and area. We spoke with a management company yesterday that charges 40% and that seemed high which is why I asked the question here on BP.

Does anyone have experience renting on Cape Cod or any beach community in the mid Atlantic / Northeast that would like to share who they use and roughly what they pay?

For those of you who that have your short term rental managed by another company, what do you typically pay in fees or a percentage for the management service? I have some family who are considering renting out their beach house on Cape Cod MA by the week during the summer and they want to get an idea for what they should expect to pay and what that fee gets them.

Hi Everyone,

I was helping a client find a rental in the metro west area outside Boston and I noticed real estate agents who owned and managed the units they are listing were charging a brokerage fee to the potential tenant (my client) to move in to their home.

I thought this was weird because why would an agent want to collect a fee from their potential tenant on top of first, last & security. I know they’re going to take that fee, split it with their broker and use it to count toward their commission goals for the year, but still it just didn’t seem necessary. Plus it can add thousands of dollars on top of the already high move in cost.

Normally, a landlord (non-agent) would be putting up the brokerage fee to pay their listing agent to market, screen and place the tenant for them and sometimes the renter’s agent who brings the renter gets a piece and sometimes not.

Any thoughts on charging a brokerage fee in this way?

Hi Everyone,

My wife and I now own 3 properties (4 doors) across two states (Maine & Mass). We are looking at how to consolidate and structure our business so as we continue to grow we’re protected. It may be too early on to be trying to structure ourself this way, but I feel like if we create our system now each door will be easier to add to it later.

I’ve read about a lot of different strategies including:

- Keep the houses in your name, use an umbrella policy (which we have)

- Series LLC (Delaware)

- Real Estate / Land Trust

My wife and I currently reside in Massachusetts and the fees for businesses aren't cheap (LLC's are somewhere around $500). Other business structures are less expensive but I don't know as much about them and what I'd need to do to keep them up each year.

We have purchased 2 of our houses personally with owner occupy loans and our latest one with an investment property loan. We have one LLC in Maine that we run all our business transactions / leases / it's own business home insurance through for that house and we transferred ownership of the home to the LLC on tax records but the LLC didn't pay for the home and the mortgage is still in our name.

At this point it doesn’t seem like we have the right structure and we’re looking for advice on how to set up a business to contain everything legally that allows us to grow. Any suggestions would be super helpful! Thank you!

Hi Everyone!

I’m looking for suggestions or investor friendly CPA versed in Massachusetts high tax environment. My wife and I now own 4 doors split across 2 states and we’re getting a little overwhelmed with figuring out what we should be doing for business structure to shelter as much as we can from taxes.

We'd love to find a way to file taxes for one parent company with each house being a separate company underneath it (sort of like a series LLC, but as far as I know Mass doesn't offer that structure).

Any recommendations to someone who can help would be a huge help!

Thanks!

@Connor McMahon

Yes, Attleboro and Taunton are within my service area. I work all the over the south shore from Quincy to Attleboro all the way down to Hyannis and everything in-between.

Attleboro and Taunton are strong rental markets and I actually looked there myself before I purchased my latest investment. Attleboro and Taunton are similar when it comes to rents. On the conservative end you can get about $1400 for a 2 bed and $1700 for a three bed unit and the rent only increases based off the level of finishes and amenities you offer.