Looking into CT

[Jeff Sacco]

Hi All,

I recently sold a duplex I owned in Massachusetts after dealing with a tenant-from-hell situation. Thankfully, I still netted a solid gain. Now I’m on the hunt for my next investment. Connecticut has been on my radar for a few years and now Hartford is where I am spending much of my research time on after hearing Dave Meyer speak about it on a recent episode.

I wanted to reach out to see if there are any CT-based investors here willing to share their insights. A few questions I have:

• How landlord-friendly is Connecticut? I know no state is worse than MA, but curious how CT compares in terms of eviction process, regulations, rent control, etc.

• Any strong investor-friendly realtors you’d recommend?

• How about property managers? I have one in mind but would love to hear other recommendations.

• What’s tenant demand like in your market? And what has your experience been with tenant quality?

I’ll definitely be doing my own deep dive, but figured I’d start a conversation here in case anyone has valuable on-the-ground experience that I won’t find in the data.

Thanks in advance!

[Samuel Eddinger]

@Jeff Sacco - I'd be happy to have a conversation.  CT is very tenant friendly (not as bad as MA but we get a lot of our inspiration on new laws to pass from our brothers to the North).

I actually see the regulation as an opportunity.  A 2 bedroom apartment rents a lot higher in CT than it does in more landlord friendly states.  As a result, if you pick a good property and manage it well, I believe you can get a higher cash flow than you would in other states.

The investor friendly realtors I recommend are @Brandon Rush & @Joseph Salzillo.  

I own a property management company and depending on where you are looking to buy, can recommend one or more to you to interview.

Tenant demand is still stronger than a lot of areas of the country.  With that said, I do see it weakening as of late.  Tenant quality is dependent on your willingness to spend a lot of time screening.  We personally reject about 70% of our applicants because of how tenant friendly the laws are around evictions.  We cannot take a chance on a questionable tenant because it takes a long time to remove them.

DM me if you want to talk more about this.  Good luck!