All Forum Posts by: Ryan Breen

I am in a similar situation. Wanting to buy a 2 or 3 unit multi family in Holyoke and owner occupy. The down payment is all that is holding me back. I just want to get started already. I am working 60 hours a week trying to get there. But at this rate it will still probably be another 2 months figuring I need About 10k.

@Steve Bracero I woulf prefer Holyoke. Springfield is not where I want to live but I was curious about how the market there will react as well as surrounding markets. I also would not mind chicopee, West Springfield, South Hadley, eathampton. Chicopee seems to be similar pricing and number of multi families whole the others I listed are much more expensive and less multi families. Therefore I have mainly been browsing Holyoke and Chicopee but the prices and number of home sales in Springfield does tend to draw me in but commuting from there’s and the quality of neighborhoods turns me away 

@Sean Mentzinger I was more thinking about the 3000 jobs that the casino is creating and they need to hire for. Also most people living in Springfield currently don’t qualify for these jobs. Figured this might generate a higher demand for housing 

thanks @Andrew Kerr that’s an interesting idea and I should research how different places reacted to other casino additions. 

That makes a lot of sense, thanks for sharing your experience. I have listened to a few podcast but I definitely need to check out some more. And I can’t make it tonight I work overnight but I will try and make it to the next one glad you posted that link when I was looking up that before I only found groups that met in Boston. Hopefully I can meet you at one soon, @Mike Koprowski

I grew up in Holyoke, MA, 20 minutes from Springfield MA where a brand new casino is scheduled to open sometime this year. I am fond of buying my first property (so far thinking multi family) in Holyoke to stay local to my family. Planning on living in one unit and renting other. There are usually a handful of multi families for sale in Holyoke at a decent price. And there are neighborhoods from bad to ok to great. Springfield seems to always have a large number for sale at a low price. But Springfield has many more bad neighborhoods but some are okay/some nice. But overall more crime/traffic. Much more city like. I am wondering how Holyoke’s housing market could react to this huge casino right nearby. And how Springfield’s will react. Would an increase in price of the homes in Springfield due to a huge increase in jobs people moving there? Or maybe Holyoke’s will as well since is is easy driving Distance for a job. I personally wouldn’t want to live in Springfield and would prefer a home/rental in Holyoke or a surrounding city. Just curious to some of your thoughts seeing as this is a huge change being made so close and I have yet to make any actions. I appreciate the input, thanks! 

So far I am reading as much as I can and studying my local market. I am saving my money so I can soon make my first investment in a owner occupied multi family. My plan is to rent out my additional unit or units to pay my mortgage and hopefully earn some cash flow. My goals after that are to continue to invest in more multi families and create income through rentals. I thank everyone who posts on Biggerpockets for their tips/advice and everyone who shares their experiences it is extremely helpful. I look forward to connections with others with similar interest!