Providence, RI Investor

[Ian Slater]

Hello, BP! New investor to the forum here introducing myself. I currently have one fully leased buy and hold in Providence, RI (on College Hill). I am looking to buy another but am completely open to partners as I am a full time real estate agent working in NYC. I manage and purchase the RI property on the side. The long-term goal is to move back there with a full real estate business but the market in NYC is too good right now to leave. I went to school in College Hill and believe tremendously in the value of the area and that there are great deals to be had. 

Any advice that anyone can offer to a young, hungry investor would be more than welcome! BP has already taught me a ton and opened my eyes to this world but I haven't yet properly introduced myself.

[Anthony Thompson]

@Ian Slater I'm not sure how I missed your initial post but somewhat belatedly, welcome to BP.

I lived in NYC for a few years in the early 2000s and got a real estate finance & investment degree from NYU. It was great but I ultimately decided I'd rather be a bigger fish in a smaller pond (RI) than a tiny fish in a huge pond (NYC).

I am intimately familiar with all 93 exits on Rt 95 in Connecticut, however, having made that drive many times :)

My usual advice is to invest as close to home as possible but obviously that's not going to work for you. So I would say either choose a property management company carefully and/or be willing to pay more for properties in nicer areas.

There is a world of difference in tenant quality (and aggravation) between properties in B vs. C areas, and (to a little lesser extent) between A and B areas. The ones in C areas already start out with the mindset that you are the enemy, whereas the ones in A/B areas will give you some slack as long as you eventually address their issues. And the ones in A areas will let you know ahead of time and apologize (!) if their rent will be a little late. They actually have checking accounts and care about their credit rating, which are often foreign concepts in C areas.

(Though I will say on the flip side, some A/B area tenants are also "high maintenance" and expect more for their higher rents, but I've also encountered some of that in C areas so it's by no means an absolute.)

You will have to pay a little more for better area properties, but if you're managing from a distance I think it will be a lot easier.

Also make sure to pick your on-the-ground team, handymen and repair people, carefully as they'll be your "face" to the tenants if you're managing from afar.

Finally, you're not the first person I've encountered through BP who's from NYC; I know at least one more (@Jared Gettinger) in a similar situation, and he's actually come up to our local RI investor group (RIREIG) a few times. So maybe there's some opportunity to connect or mutually-assist there.