All Forum Posts by: Sonia N.

@Jay Hinrichs 

Hi Jay - This might be more specific to the Boston market since we have 35+ colleges right in town and there's always been a consistent demand for housing; Lots of people and not much land.  When COVID hit and international students couldn't come to the US and everyone else nationally was going remote, the rents plummeted from too much inventory.   Even the professionals who lived in the city started to move more out to the suburbs for more space.  

That said, I do think it's temporary.  Once the bulk of the population gets the vaccine and the colleges go back to in-person learning, people will trot back into the city.   I also don't worry about other types of renters (young professionals) either simply because Boston is one of the most walkable cities in the US.  Not be a favorite place to be when you're in quarantine and locked down in a 400 sq ft apartment but if not in quarantine and you can walk to Fenway or eat at 5 star restaurants downstairs from your apartment, it's a whole different story.  

Coincidentally, I thought I had the same problem at my North End condo.  My tenant complained that there was a constant ticking sound coming from the pipes (also very  old building on Hanover St) and the PM plumber as well as my contractor thought that a boiler extension might fix the problem.   Luckily, PM covered the cost and took down the wall from outside my unit and they found out that there were 2x4 pegs nailed in the wall everywhere in the building and the rattling was coming from a loose nail that attached the pipe to the wall.  After fixing that particular nail/peg, tenant said it helped but she could still hear ticking noises albeit less regularly.  End solution, the plumber said we'd need to take down all the walls of the entire building to remove the 2x4 pegs to get rid of the noise completely.  Course that is a no dice situation for me. 

The PM plumber said that lots of tenants have been complaining across all the properties because they're at home 100% of the time.  What used to be a slight nuance when they heard 2-3x a day is now 50+.   We ended up reducing the rent by $200/mo so she didn't fall off the deep end and start looking elsewhere since rents have fallen so much.  She did end up buying a white noise machine and said it helped a bit.  

@Matthew McDermott that’s great! Can you send me the info for that podcast as well?

Hi Chang - Fellow Bostonian here and I recently took the plunge and closed on my first Huntsville property last Friday and getting set to close on the second by end of this month.  We should connect and start a group :)

Hey Gerardo - I've found niche.com to be helpful for demographics and you can search it by zip code.  It goes into median household income, education levels, school ratings and depending on the size of the city, sometimes it gives an overall grade for diversity.  

Hi Vincent - I sort of agree with Brendon here.  Boston is small so the demand will always be there.  Besides a worldwide pandemic, Boston just doesn't see much dips.  Once we get back into the swing of things, we'll be getting all the students, hospital workers and generally all the urban people back into the inner city.   Even with more remote working, there are many reasons why people like to live in the city.  The walkability here to great restaurants and attractions can't be beat.   I've 6 condos in the North End, Southie, Back Bay areas and taken a decrease in rent for 2 of them.  My more savvy tenants who were renewing their leases squeezed it out of me since there was so much inventory out there now and at much lower rents.

As for sales, I've not seen it slow down much at all - Likely because of the interest rates.  However, I will say that you may be able to find more motivated sellers who don't or can't deal with the current vacancies agreeing to a lower price than they would've pre-covid.

@Brendon Kerrigan Hi Brendon- Since the area you’re trying to cover is smaller, you might even be able to get away with asking for granite remnants. Those are the pieces left over from other jobs and depending on what they have left over, it’s significantly cheaper. The other option is to ask them for the “contractor’s special”. These are the lower end granites that are mass installed in your usual high rises and condos. They look great and go with every color scheme. Good luck!

@Nicole (Dunlap) Pendergrass Congrats Nicole! You deserve it and what a much needed story as we look into the new year with new beginnings. You get it girl! 💪🏻✨

@Ian Salinas Would love to connect as I just started my first OOS investment in Huntsville as well!

@Joe Steele I am also a realtor and just started OOS investing in Huntsville this year. Would love to connect with you to get your insight on things there!