All Forum Posts by: Adam Saball

@Stace Caseria Your contractor is right. A lot has changed in Fitchburg/Leominster and they're each improving but those changes are definitely not major transformations. With any luck, as Boston and the immediate burbs get more expensive, the area west of 495 will reap some benefit. I really appreciate the recommendation. I made a note with Brian's name and company info so I can reach out to have a conversation as the time gets closer.  

@Steve Bracero That's perfect, thanks for the tip.

@Jeremy Wirths  Thanks for the recommendation! Is Matthew a broker?

@Stace Caseria Great feedback, thank you. I'm glad there's been immediate consensus about what to expect from this area. Long term tenants mean less vacancy so maybe over time lost rents are somewhat mitigated by fewer vacancy expenses... or maybe that's naive. Thank you, I'd love references. Candidly I'm two years from doing my first deal. I'm not in RE by trade and I'm on the road a lot for my day job which means I'm going about getting started in REI the old fashioned way, slow and steady savings. I'd like to use that time wisely.

@Steve Bracero   Thanks for the advice. Why do you think those tenants stay under market rent?  In MA, can we include rent increases during the term of a lease in our contracts... say a 2% increase on the first day of each year following a lease being signed? 

@Steve Bracero Thank you! When I jump in I'll be looking to start close to where I live, primarily in the Fitchburg, Leominster, Lunenburg, Gardner areas. 

Good morning BP! 

I'm Adam and I've dipped in and out of these forums for the last few years with no serious intentions. Late last year I decided to buckle down and learn this stuff, so here we are. During the day I'm a full time Sales Manager for a domestic, independent manufacturer of plastic houseware products and on the side I'm a budding Real Estate Investor in north central Massachusetts.

Today my portfolio consists of zero doors. My intent is to add six over the next three years. My focus is on buying/holding 2-3 unit multi-family buildings in old New England mill towns that need minor or cosmetic repairs but not major reconstruction. I prefer buildings with units at or above 800 sq/ft, and a minimum of 2/1, ideally 3/1 or 3/2. I'm looking to connect with agents, attorneys, property managers and contractors local to north central Mass and of course, other like minded individuals in the greater BP community. 

Looking forward to the conversations!

@Michael Barry Good info, thank you for sharing. 

@Chris Hopper Not brash at all, I enjoy and appreciate the directness. Will it take 3 years to learn fundamentals, of course not. I agree with you. The 3 year metric allows me to build the capital necessary to approach REI in the way I want to do it, if I decide I want to do it at all. There's a lot of nuance to consider. In your scenario REI is someone's top priority but they're too afraid to begin. Analysis paralysis is real, I agree there too. In my case REI is potentially a second arm of my investing strategy. I travel a lot for my career so I choose to max out other vehicles that are more passive and automated first. Before I take on a partner or buy on my own I want to know I'm invested and I want to bring knowledge and capital to the table. I'm okay with being patient so that I can offer those elements to a partnership or to have for diving in on my own.

@Chris Hopper Good to know! To me a meaningful difference exists between fear and strategy. Wouldn't you recommend taking time to learn how to analyze deals and understand tendencies that lead to failure before investing the first time versus buying into a project one knows noting about? In a way saying no is suggesting someone should buy a property before they know they want to be an investor and before they know anything about it because mistakes can be corrected down the road. A period of research and understanding is simply due diligence IMO. 

That said, I wouldn't waste anybody's valuable time looking for specific help until I was willing to dive in and financially ready to do so. Personally I'm not starting this journey by hacking and I don't want a partner, at least right now. I'd rather build up the capital on my own over the next 3-5 years and look for deals after I've taken the time to understand how to look for them. 

@Michael Barry I don't see a lot of 401k talk on here yet (again - the new guy...) so it's nice to see I'm not the only one picking this up after starting a traditional career, family etc....   If this isn't the appropriate outlet to temporarily veer the conversation I apologize, but you suggested use of a Traditional 401k for tax benefits because you will be in a lower bracket post retirement. How come you're confident about that? I'm funding a Roth 401k because I'm unsure for myself so I'm curious about your criteria.  

Steering back to RE, these 401k funds are what I'd be using to save for my first REI if I started today and with a lot of fundamental learning ahead I don't think directing that capital to another investment vehicle for the purpose of getting into REI in 3-5 years makes sense right now.

I’ve only been here a couple days so I don’t have experience with the type of posts OP wrote about. I may fall under the umbrella of this thread or I may not. But I have do RE as a 3-5 year plan (outside the “forever home” I bought in ‘18). I also have no issue with posters who haven’t pulled the trigger but have longer term aspirations.

Personally without much financial guidance in my early career I started a 401k a couple years ago in my late 20s which is the main driver of my long term investing strategy. It's funded automatically and almost completely passive in nature which is why I'll keep it as my lead strategy. I recently began to understand how RE fits into a successful long term investing strategy and why. I strongly believe I'll pursue it. First I need to understand the fundamentals better specifically around analyzing deals and the tendencies that lead to negative results. More importantly I want to have a solid financial foundation for my young family before using capital in RE which means achieving goals in a set of criteria I have for myself. When that criteria is satisfied I'll be able to better focus on using capital required for REI and that focus I'm confident is the difference between flaming out and succeeding.