All Forum Posts by: Maureen F.

Naturally you like the higher rent this prospect offered, but I wonder if you should advertise the unit at a higher rent -- perhaps $1700 is below market -- and wait for a stronger tenant (without a dog and three teenage sons).

@jered Sturm - what an amazing and inspirational story!  Congratulations, and thanks for sharing.

@JP Krueger - I'm considering the same, but won't be ready to get serious until 2017 because currently the basement is rented for storage.  Anyhow, I was given the names of an attorney and architect with experience in Boston with this.  Let me know if you'd like their contact info.

I just advise a family member who rents two units.

@Rich Hupper, If you were able to set up a monthly payment plan, I think the tenant would be able to cancel it at any time, and then you would have no leverage to collect.

City of Boston has a repair loan for owner-occupants of 1-3 family properties.  Maximum is 10K or 20K depending on owner's income.  0%, no monthly payments, up to 33% forgiven in five years, balance due upon sale or refinance.  Besides the income limits, a caveat is that you agree not to condo-convert for 10 years.  (For details visit the Boston Home Center, Department of Neighborhood Development.)  I'm finding it difficult to get answers over the phone, such as, how payments are released.  I wouldn't mind paying the contractor directly out of pocket and then getting reimbursed from the loan, however the website says they will mail the City check directly to the contractor after making their final inspection.  I have a very good price from a very good contractor and don't want to lose him over logistics -- he's asked for 30% upfront and the balance upon completion, which usually means immediately upon completion, from my experience.  Has anyone used this program and how was the experience?  If not, any comments on how repair loans work in general would be greatly appreciated.

@Joe Burns -- We bought the condo in 2007 and sold in 2015, on Dix Street near the Dot Ave end.  It appreciated in value by 18% (despite a moderate downturn in the early years), and also the principal payments on the mortgage increased our equity, so we consider it a success.  We bought as investors, so had to put down 25% and endure a higher interest rate than an owner occupant would.

For a lender I highly recommend Bonnie at Rockland Trust; she recently helped my son buy a multi-family in Dorchester.  She works with all the first time buyer, etc, programs, she's very responsive, and she and the bank are fast. It was very difficult because of the crazy market, and other things that can happen.  For buyers agent I recommend Eric Gould of Gibson Sotheby, he cheerfully stuck with it through many showings, rejected offers, failed inspections, etc.

For those affordable units, Brookline also has an Affordable Housing Opportunities mailing list.

@Joe Burns -- your ideas are very well formulated and it sounds like you're getting well-prepared.  Re @Norm A. 's comments about coops, New York is full of coops but they are rare in Boston.  A coop is similar to a condo, but IMO, the structure is more complicated, and the coop board can be more difficult than a condo board.  If you buy a condo, check the condo docs (they might be on file online via the Registry of Deeds, if not you'd need to check with the seller) to see to what extent they allow rentals.  The one we owned allowed rentals as long as it was for at least 30 days (in other words, no transient rentals) and the renter agreed to abide by the condo rules and regs.  Ours was one unit in a three-decker in Dorchester and the condo fee was very reasonable, probably because it was self-managed and the owners pitched in to do basic tasks like yard maintenance.   You could also look into buying a really small house, then you wouldn't need to be concerned about condo fees and rules.  You should also look into the Boston Home Center for info about mortgages etc.  Some mortgages are only available to first time buyers, and some do not allow you to rent the property at any time.  And get qualified from a lender, find out if you can buy a single or multi and for how much.

Welcome to BP Angel.  Tell us more ... are you planning to occupy one of the units?  Will this be the first property you have owned?  Are you looking in certain areas?

The Boston REIA is meeting at the Hilton dedham tomorrow evening, great place for info, contacts and leads.

I have also heard that the AirBnb business in the Boston area is seasonal (the season being primarily Boston marathon, month of May, the summer, and some in the fall and Xmas/New Years).  I was renting my house which is in a suburb, so my clientele was primarily families on vacation, but I went to an AirBnb gathering and heard that even for downtown apartments the demand was on the same seasonal schedule.  In the winter requests were sporadic.