All Forum Posts by: Steve R.

Paul thanks for the info and I will reach out to some management firms in the area. My property is far enough away from the UMass Lowell area that it wouldn't be attractive as student housing, and its in a rougher area of the city so a lot of the MLS rental data I found isn't applicable (too high end). Appreciate your feedback.

Are there any landlords or investors in the Lowell Massachusetts area willing to chat about the local apartment and multifamily market?  I am working on an apartment appraisal for a small (<10 unit) apartment building just south of the downtown area and would love to get some opinions on the local market from people who are active in the area.  I am willing to share whatever data I am able to gather during the course of my research such as rental info and comparable sales data.  Thanks!

Steve

Hi BP,

I am conducting some appraisal work in Attleboro Mass, and I wanted to see if anyone here was actively investing in this area, and would be willing to spend a few minutes chatting about the local market? I have spoken to a few local realtors who say the market has been improving over the past few years, and I would love to get the perspective of an investor who is actively doing deals in the market. I am working on a few small commercial pieces of property as well as an SFR being utilized as a rental.

I appreciate any opinions on the area, and happy friday!

-Steve

For a huge amount of free demographic information, check out American Factfinder from the US Census Bureau. The website will take some practice to use, but it has awesome demographic information for free. Also see if your registry of deeds has online access. There is a lot of really good information in there as well.

factfinder2.census.gov

As previously mentioned, provide as much information as possible. As an appraiser I appreciate it when owners give me detailed breakdowns as it makes my job a heck of a lot easier. Also feel free to include in your info packet any comps that you used in your analysis. I would say try to chat up the appraiser about the local market, because many times you can immediately tell if you have someone who is not from the area or who doesn't do a ton of work in your area. If this is the case, you may want to provide insights into the local market and what forces are driving real estate values. I have taken on jobs in new areas and have been that guy who needed to get up to speed on a new market quickly. Good luck!

PM me and I can provide a contact. In addition to his contracting business he owns rental properties and has done some flips so he understands how to work with investors.

I used to live in neighboring Dudley, and I think that you are in a decent spot. Just to the north of you there is Auburn and Worcester which have good levels of investor activity, however most likely have more competition from other wholesalers. From your spot you can easily access the towns along I-84, I-90, and I-395, so I would say pick a location and really get to know the fundamentals and demographics, and you will be able to see value and deals where other people may not see any.

Welcome Jim. It is nice to see another investor from Worcester join the community. With your construction experience you seem like a person that I should probably get to know. Don't hesitate to reach out if there's ever any information or market data that I can provide, and hopefully I will see you at the next local REIA meeting in Worcester or Chelmsford.

@Brett Blough I am in the process of appraising 3 units in Worcester in the Union Hill neighborhood and have some recent rental comps if it would help. PM me your email and I can send you a spreadsheet of what I have if you want it.

Unfortunately the answer is most likely no due to the current anti money laundering and customer due diligence laws for the banking industry. I spent a number of years working in banking compliance and this type of an account is an immediate red flag not just at account opening but also for closure once someone figures out the account was opened incorrectly. My advice is to get your business set up and then take the trip to the US to get the account opened correctly. This will prevent a lot of issues down the line once you are actually utilizing the account.