All Forum Posts by: Rachel L.

Is the payoff to the mortgage company during closing for a 1031 exchange considered an allowed expense or is it considered boot?

@Marcia Maynard - Thanks for the great advice!

@Robert Perry - Sorry that wasn't clear. The tenant that was given the 30 day notice is still there and still in the middle of their 30 days.

Hi BP community -

I just closed a couple of weeks ago on my first multi-family investment property last week and will be owner occupying one of the units. Part of the P&S agreement was that the seller would give notice to vacate to one of the units, which they did. As the new owner, I'm trying to get a start on understanding the building and maintenance issues.

Middle of last week, I left a letter to all units saying that I would be visiting this past Sunday (the 19th) to do a walkthrough and general inspection, stating it would be preferable that someone in each unit be home to answer any questions about maintenance. I stated that I would be taking photos of any maintenance issues.

The tenant in the unit that I’m asking to leave called me and said she would not be home this past weekend and asked for rescheduling, which we did for this Wednesday. I didn’t go into the unit she is currently occupying.

She just called me today and asked me why I had crossed her name off of the mailbox. She stated that this entire moving process has been very stressful for her and she stated she feels like she has been treated like less than a human should. She stated that if I wanted to do a walkthrough, it would have to wait till the day she left. She said she would like to have her case manager there the day she is moving out and that she knows her rights.

I tried to explain that I did not cross out her name (not sure who did really, not even my handwriting) and it’s actually been crossed off for at least a week now. I didn’t get much past 6 words in the actual conversation.

Any advice on how to handle this kind of a situation?

Hi Josh -

I've been looking at multi-families around certain areas of Boston (southern Boston neighborhoods that are up and coming) and in the burbs a little south of Boston (my requirement was train accessible) for about one year now. In those areas that I've looked, it's highly unlikely to find a multi-family for <$150k.

I'm not sure what your income is and what your case reserve is, though you could try to use a FHA loan (it allows for minimum of 3.5% downpayment).

I'm not sure about NH or RI and if <$150k is a possible number. Perhaps some investors in REIAs in those areas would be more knowledgable on the numbers in those areas.

I just recently closed on my first income property (will be house hacking and got an FHA loan). My strategy was to find a real estate agent who was also an investor in the specific neighborhoods I was interested in. I decided that since I'm starting out, I should look for an income property in my "backyard". It's an area I know and should something happen, it's close enough for me to travel to the location.

@Aaron Montague 

Thanks for sharing your experience with the Boston market. I've been looking (and new to investing) and based on my calculations, getting even 1% was difficult. It made me very cautious about acquiring properties.

Welcome to BP!

@Patrick Reilley

Welcome to BP!

Since you asked about real estate groups, it depends on how far out you are willing to go (I mean if you have a car or willing to zipcar it). I'm new too and I've been going to the groups that are listed on meetup.com. Just search for real estate for Boston, there's quite a few listed there.

@Ned Carey

Thanks for clarifying. I'm new too and I somehow thought the offer and contract were two separate documents.

@Stephen S. It sounds like a big house is very hard to sell because it's too much space for the average buyer and the average buyer doesn't want too big or too small. Thanks for sharing your story! It's a great story with a very important lesson for a beginner like myself.

@Ann Bellamy Hm... Looks like I'll have to do a bit more research first. I'll definitely go down and have a conversation with the Building Dept about turning it into a duplex. I honestly don't think that would be the route I would go (being a beginner and all). I didn't realize that if the offer is accepted, the buyer is obligated to move forward... This makes me very hesitant to put a offer in, especially this is the first house I'm using to learn on.

@Mike D'Arrigo Thanks for the tip! I remember hearing about that from somewhere and had completely forgotten about it... I'll definitely take that into consideration when deciding on whether I make an offer or not.