All Forum Posts by: Nick Johnson

Hi Ryan,

I think SFH's and Condos both have their pros and cons. Just depends what you want to get into.

One thing I'd say to watch out for in either case if you want to do short term rentals is to make sure your property is zoned for short term rentals. Hotels successfully lobbied local governments and you cannot use your home for whatever you want (insert "thanks Obama" joke). It has to actually be permitted for short term rentals by the town (or county?).

Hope that helps.

Nick

@Garrett Gable nice work!

Very similar to my story (except I was a college kick-out) ;)

I did 2 flips in my first 6 months of being kicked out of school... I learned so much more by doing than I ever did sitting in a classroom.

I took a hiatus from REI and decided to develop web applications for living. Now that I'm well into 6 figures annually (and have proven to myself I didn't need college), I'm starting back up with REI.

Best of luck!

 +1

No one else has any thoughts?

Hey cool idea @Ryan Dossey

I might ping you later with some questions if that's ok.

Nicole,

Although I've never had to do that specifically, I would assume 6-12 months of on-time payment records from those companies would suffice.

If not, it might be an option to write a letter yourself (with whatever info your lender needs in it) and ask a company representative to sign it (assuming it's accurate). If you do the work for them, they're probably more likely to help out.

Hi all,

I'm an aspiring real estate investor and a current web developer with a very entrepreneurial spirit.

I love developing web applications, and I was thinking it would be cool to create something to help real estate investors. 

I have a couple of ideas for tools, but I wanted to see if anyone had something they wish existed... or something they currently use that they wish there was a better way... or something like that.

Doesn't even have to be a web app... could be a phone app as well.

Thanks!

Nick

@David Wurzel I have 2 major issues with Boston (there are others as well, but 2 biggies).

1. Tenant laws. I've heard horror stories about courts allowing tenants to live rent-free for 12-18 months before completing evictions. 

2. Neither the 50% or the 2% rules apply. It's just not a thing here that I've seen. House prices are so high and demand is so high that it really makes small investments (single family homes) difficult/impossible. 

For smaller investments, the only success stories I've heard locally are using FHA loans to buy an owner-occupied multi-family. But that's not really an option for me at the moment since I am married with 2 kids in school. Kinda need a single family home for our current situation.

Other than that, I know some people doing well with large apartment complexes, but those are $3-5MM investments that I can't do right now.

@Erin Legler Small world, I'm in Holliston - about 20 mins east of Worcester. I've been leaning toward single family's in the Daytona Beach area lately because of some connections there that I don't really have in Orlando. Do you work in Volusia county or do you know any good brokers there?

Hi all,

I've been listening to BP podcasts for a while now, figured I'd introduce myself.

Name is Nick. I live in the Boston, MA area (metro west suburbs) with my wife a 2 kids. I am originally from Central FL (Daytona Beach / Orlando). 

In 2004, I did my first flip under the guidance of my childhood mentor and successful real estate investor. A month later I wholesaled a property to the same investor who bought my flip... in the same neighborhood (in the UCF area). It was incredibly easy and so much fun. 

Shortly after that we moved out of the country for a while and then ended up in Boston, where my wife is from.

I'm now ready to get back into the game, but I'm looking to buy and hold this time around.

Way too discouraged by the real estate market in MA, I'm looking to do some long distance investing back in Central FL.

Currently, I'm considering the following options:

1. STRs in the Disney area.

2. Multi-family's in either Winter Park or Volusia county.

3. Single family's in Volusia county.

I have some money, just need to find a good agent, property manager and possibly a contractor depending on the deal.

Anyway, thanks everyone for the valuable info you guys share here, and I'm happy to be part of this community.

Glad to see I'm not the only one unable to make the dots connect in the Boston area. I am originally from Central Florida and I am going to be doing some long distance investing there because the numbers actually work and I know the area. Not super excited about being an absent investor, but Boston REI just doesn't make sense to me.

Add to that the fact that MA eviction laws heavily favor the tenants (I've heard some real horror stories) and REI just isn't an option for me here in Boston.

Anyway, @Alex T. I wish you all the best. I'm new to BP too. Maybe I'll see you in some local meetups.