All Forum Posts by: Aaron Montague

@Fletcher Sergile - Breath first :)

Now go learn about a process we call "house hacking."  The RE world is big, has lots of acronyms, and as many opinions as there are investors.  I recommend gaining some skills in one thing at a time and for new investors I point them at house hacking.

@Alex Mora The others covered the basic concepts nicely so I'll throw in a different strategy along the same lines.

@Will Fraser is exactly on point with the "a reduction in your living expenses is a successful house hack." The next key is to think of your ROI on the house hack.

If you were paying $2000/month in rent and utilities, then bought a house that required a total of $45,000 out of pocket, your ROI is going to depend on how much you end up saving vs. the $2000.

Savings: ROI:
$200         5.3%
$500         13.3%
$1000       26.7%

The other possibility is saving very little on your housing expenses but playing the appreciation game.  If you are fairly sure your property is going to be worth substantially more 25+ months down the road this can be another possibility for a successful house hack. The primary downside is all of your benefit needs to wait until the end of the sale.  The key here is to make sure you live in the house for 24 months and you won't have to pay capital gains tax on the first $250k of profit on the sale.  This can be forced appreciation as well as market appreciation.

Best of luck with everything no matter what you choose to do!

@Nathan Clifford welcome to BP.  Real Estate is a fun industry.  

1. Don't quit your day job just yet as having it will make your Real Estate career MUCH easier to start.
2. Look up house hacking. It is the best way into RE in my opinion.

Hi @Sefa Demirtas,

Check out a few of the programs available at the federal level:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

Some do multi family owner occupied, others do not.  They change quite a bit but those websites are a good place to start.

If you want 20% down in MA start calling banks and credit unions.  Both change their criteria regularly so the only good way to find out what they are offering is to ask.

Best of luck in your search!

Teresa Kilgore @ D&G

513-488-5415

Tell her I sent you :)

@Kareem Johnson - Hit me up with a message or start a thread with your questions and tag me.

@Chelsea Owusu - Getting ripped off is always an issue.  Start with a good set of refences then start chatting with people. Owning your own place, doing a bit of property management, fixing the proverbial toilet, and getting a good grasp of what you are hiring folks to do is a great place to start. With that experience in your pocket you'll be able to talk to people in the business on a more level playing field.

Housing hacking is a great beginning to the journey because it gives you all of the above AND increases your monthly income :) I'm going to steer you away from the FHA line in Worcester because of the competitive market. You are probably going to lose a few deals if you come with FHA financing due to the slowness of the process. There are lenders out there doing 5% down, owner occupied multi-family purchases. I'd start calling around and see who is doing that in MA :)

Best of luck with your search.  If you find a place and want help running the numbers, post it up for all to see and we'll give our opinions.

:)

Go quickly if you want into Worcester.  

Buying out of state isn't bad, you just need to put together a team.  The team is a property manger, realtor, handyman, insurance, and finance folks. Once those folks are in place it makes looking out of state quite a bit easier.

@Chelsea Owusu - We own 3 places.  Two of them are in NH and another is in Ohio.

Worcester is definitely a hot market in terms of increasing rents and increasing purchase prices.  Are you looking to house hack or buy pure investment properties?

Hey @Nick Dennis, welcome to BP!

Check out the Fitchburg, MA area for flips.  There are TONS of places out there in need of creative flippers.  The city is looking for people to spend money and willing to work with developers on just about any project.

If you want to chat, hit me up and I'll show you a few of the projects I'm talking about.

@Christos Ziogas - Rochester is on the way up.  Come join us in that area :)

Main St is getting a European style make over.  The mills are being converted into housing.  Parking is going away to be replaced by walkable areas.  They are revitalizing 3 or 4 city parks along the river.