NH vs MA buying my first property
5 Replies
Paul Cullen
posted about 1 year ago
Hello Biggerpockets community,
Ive been seriously considering getting into the investment property game. I currently live on the MA NH line and cant decide in which direction to go. Where have you had better success?, advice pros and cons, any info would be a great help.
Thanks for your time.
Jaysen Medhurst
Rental Property Investor from Greenwich, CT
replied about 1 year ago
The tenant laws in MA are pretty unfriendly to land lords, @Paul Cullen . Have you looked through the local NH and MA forums?
Jessica Stevenson
Real Estate Agent from Manchester, NH
replied about 1 year ago
Hey @Paul Cullen - welcome. I agree with @Jaysen Medhurst for sure.. spend some time reading through the NH & MA Forums and discussions to see what types of experiences people are having. Additionally, he's absolutely right that MA laws are more tenant-friendly. I know some investors that live in Boston but refuse to invest in MA for that reason alone (the high cost of entry & low cashflow don't help either).
What are you looking to accomplish with your investing? Are you looking to buy and hold for many years? Fix something and sell within a few years? Owner-occupy/househack? All of these questions will help point you in the right direction as to where you wan to be. Don't hesitate to reach out to me directly with any questions, I'm right in Southern New Hampshire and grew up in Mass so I'm quite familiar with both markets.
Dan K.
Rental Property Investor from Boston, MA
replied about 1 year ago
Hi @Paul Cullen , @Jaysen Medhurst and @Jessica Stevenson bring up good point about landlord-tenant law in Massachusetts. You should also think about property taxes in various municipalities.
Personally, I think you also need to look at demographics, and job growth. I personally like to own property where people want to live -- rather than where they need to live because of various life events.
Matt Herbert
Rental Property Investor from Gilford, NH
replied about 1 year ago
@Paul Cullen Good luck in your decision making. Personally I've found this site pretty useful for finding the tax rate of New Hampshire towns:
https://www.joeshimkus.com/NH-Tax-Rates-2018.aspx
The site covers a few other states, but it seems like only NH is mostly kept up to date.
James Smith
Rental Property Investor from Dover, NH
replied about 1 year ago
@Matt Herbert Cool site, but I'd recommend just using the official NH page at:
https://www.revenue.nh.gov/mun-prop/municipal/property-tax-rates.htm
@Paul Cullen . I think good points are raised by everyone above, and you need to answer them for yourself before a real clear answer can be formed. That notwithstanding, NH is often cheaper, and the tenant laws are more landlord friendly; NH has struck a good balance there, I believe.