All Forum Posts by: Robert Nason

Currently I have 22 unit in 2 separate buildings a mile and a half of one another in the same town.

Approximately 6 months ago I purchased a 12 unit brick garden style apartment building that was mismanaged and needed to be properly maintained. The building is a half a mile from a very large Massachusetts College and half a mile in the other direction to a large hospital. I have been searching for over a year and a half to find the right building so I knew what my numbers needed to be and exactly What I looking for so I made an offer the first hour this building was on the market. Literally 15 minutes of negotiation they dropped the price by $250,000??? After I put the building under agreement they had dozens of people reaching out to them about the property. They do not know what they had. I paid 1.2 million, 100k per door. Some units in good shape, others not so good. All tenants at well, paying anywhere from $900-$1000 per unit for two bedroom apartments proximately 750 ft.² heat and hot water included. We can very lucky the first month we bought it we had one vacancy that we totally renovated new floors new granite countertops new Windows new appliances. Total cost of renovations $6000 and every month we've had people move out knowing that the new owners were going to put up with the same crap that the old owners did. The problem tenants basically left on their own accord which was awesome. We now have renovated six units in five months with my wife and I doing 90% of the work ourselves and we are well into our 50's The rents are now $1325 per month, a very nice boost from the $900-$1000 range. The six tenants who remain have all had their rent increased to $1200 a month with minimal renovations done. My question is when is it too soon to start considering refinancing and buying something else?

A few years ago my snowplowing bill for the season was over $10,000. That's when I decided to buy my own truck. I have multiple properties, as soon as the snow starts to fly I start getting phone calls. When I'm out plowing I have a set route that I take and I'm very diligent in making sure everything gets cleaned out promptly. I tend not to answer my phone when the tenants are calling about snow related issues, I cannot be in seven places at one time. I recommend any landlord with multiple properties consider buying their own truck it is so helpful in many different regards.

 It does require some maintenance. But maintenance beats replacing every five years. If you stick with a darker color you need not seal it as often.  The challenge may be with a small area like that is finding  A company that will do a job that small. I have two or three units done at a time when I'm doing it. I would recommend going to the small independent local granite contractor as opposed to Lowes or Home Depot as they do have minimum on the square feet of granite that you would be required to buy.

The kitchens in one of my buildings are very similar in size. Anything you do is going to cost money. I've tried painting countertops with very little success. If you have to pay someone else to install the countertops in my opinion you're better off going with a hard surface material like granite. For such a small area I think it's worth using granite, it may cost you $1000 to do versus $500 for laminate, it's short money for something that's going to hold up better over time.

Welcome Laura, I agree with the other biggerpockets members in regards to the challenges you face in Lynnfield and the emerging area of Portsmouth New Hampshire. There are a lot of people who do what we do north of Boston, The competition is fierce. I would focus in areas that had more options than Lynnfield. I would recommend Wakefield, Reading, Stoneham and particularly Melrose with alot of inventory that needs updating and the town is on the upswing. I live in Reading, but do all my investing in Lowell. You have to find a location that works for you on many different levels, not only geographically, but economically and have enough inventory to satisfy your goals. Best of luck, and once again welcome to biggerpockets

Plumbing all the way for me. It's fairly simple process to learning to yourself but extremely expensive if you have someone else do it.

Don't let them intimidate you. This is your property and conduct yourself in that manner. They're degrading the value of your investment. Document, document document every violation. Do not engage with them on any level whatsoever, let your attorney take it from here and start the eviction process immediately. It sounds like you've got good grounds.

Welcome Fernando you've already taken your first step by finding bigger pockets. Try to absorb as much as you possibly can and start going out and looking at properties in your area. Go and talk to local bankers and you government officials about programs that they may or may not have. Don't let not having money or experience deter you from your goals

For me it's a little more modest 100 units valued at over $10 million. With a loan to value of 50% on all the buildings