All Forum Posts by: Nicholas Stevens

just follow the process and consult an attorney they will most likely give you guidance for free. yes massachusetts is a tenant friendly state but i evicted a tenant recently and was not too difficult once i started the process don't let the freeloading tenants discourage you!

Hi Chris - Sending 100 letters is not much at all to be honest, it sounds like you are readjusting your expectations but I would change your attitude around or else you're not going to see much success.  I tried wholesaling last year and spent about $5k (approximately 3,500 mailers)  marketing over 6 months which was a lot of money to me, it did drive a good amount of calls but didn't have much success finding anyone motivated enough to create a deal.  I ended up getting in contact with someone who needed to sell her house in Revere and by this time I knew more about creative financing and proposed seller-financing to her.  Long story short, I bought her 2-family house with very little of my own money, closing costs, etc and it cash flows over $1,500/month and have a lot of equity too - all due to the letters and yes I live in Massachusetts.  Marketing for 6 months is a very short period of time to be marketing, some people send letter for a year and don't do a deal.  I actually consider myself pretty lucky to find my deal after marketing for just 6 months and not surprised to hear you only received 1 call from 100 letters, keep at it and be consistent and eventually something will come along.

Nice job Nick - Keep in mind that with a more expensive 3 or 4 family the bank will account for the additional rents to help you qualify. So, it may be just as easy or easier to qualify for a more expensive house!

Congrats Georges! Where is the property? Just curious on the numbers too, rents & price you paid if you don't mind sharing. I don't have much advice on the current tenants but can understand where you are coming from. I purchased my first a few years ago and my big fear was the "professional tenant" types which is one of the worst case scenerios. If you do need any help when marketing the units for new tenants and screening/etc feel free to reach out to me. congrats again, you must be very excited!

$345k***...

If you believe in real estate and can afford/willing to pay the monthly costs that rents don't cover then I would say to go head with something like that. With the low 3.5% downpayment, you're essentially acquiring a $385k asset and having tenants pay for 90% of the cost of it. Just because it doesn't meet a magical 1% rule or 2% rule doesn't mean it's a horrible decision to go forward with it. If you purchased and lived in a single family home its instantly a negative cash flow situation that you pay for 100% of all expenses. The 1 and 2% rules are good reference points but make sure you don't let it drive all of your decisions.

Thanks Don - Yes I agree it will be tight. I live very close to the property and will self manage it myself bringing some of those costs down. I have a solid job that can support the first 2-5 years when the property isn't performing as well numbers-wise. I'm willing to break even and even sink 5-10k/year into it if needed during those initial years to then have the payoff later on. With the difficulty of finding good deals in Boston area I feel it's a worthwhile investment. Also, there are no leases in place so after the first 6-12 months I think it's reasonable to increase the rents by $500/month.

@erie springer I would really prefer a silent partner and ideally looking for a funding partner using a private note. I would be willing to pay an investor something in the 7-10% range over 5 years. Preferrably a balloon payment but can amortize over the 5 years if needed.

I'm working with a commercial lender now in the early stages of that because unless I can find a partner to help fund with me (would be about $40k each) then I probably wouldn't be able to make it work.

Hi BP - I'm looking at purchasing a 5 Unit property in Revere to hold for the long term and a little short on coming up with the down payment to purchase. This is an off-market deal that should cash flow reasonably well and does not need much work at least immediately. If there are any investors in the Boston area that would want to get involved to partner with me please send me a message. I don't think hard money is a good solution in this case but any feedback on other solutions would be welcomed.

5 Units, monthly income of $5,500 and can reasonably be increased to $6,000/mo Purchase price $570,000. Seller willing to hold $100,000 note at 8% interest for 5 years. All tenants pay their own utilities. Vinyl siding, exterior in great shape, newer flat rubber roof.

Again, any investors that would like to discuss a partnership just send me a message to discuss in more detail. Boston Malden Medford Everett Chelsea Somerville