All Forum Posts by: Alan Lambkin

Hi @Eric Dubrule 

The property has 3 units, roughly identical, with 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, 1100 sqft each. I purchased it for 199k, with monthly rents at $2650 currently. I plan on making a few updates very shortly ranging from 5-10k, but primarily cosmetic changes to start. At that point I hope to bring in 3k a month by this time next year.

With my limited homework, it seemed as though rentals were going for about $1 per sqft. And I did not see many that were staying on the market for long. 

-Alan

Just to give a bit more info around my first REI, and I would be the first to say I had no idea what I was doing and I maybe made some mistakes.

Anywho... I was sitting on too much money, yea there's a problem. My last employer compensated me well, but bonuses and extras were always in stocks. With almost all of my available capital/savings sitting in risky stocks I decided to cash out an amount to cover a down payment. 

From there I zillow-ed my two local big towns, Worcester and Marlborough. I'm sure there are other good markets in Fitchburg or Leominster, but I didn't want to over-do the homework and retire in 30 years still doing the research :). The price point I was comfortable starting into was 150k to 200k. With the props I found and my agent brought to my attention, several had positive income with tenants already in place. Well that sounds easy enough, so I pulled the trigger and bought one at 199k. I financed 75% and got a kill rate at 3.6% 7/1 ARM. I figure rents will go up and cover any interest rate hikes...

My only real criteria for the purchase were a decent inspection, finding no major issues, it had a large amount of square footage, and good income potential right out of the gate. I didn't know about all these formulas that I'm hearing about, or analyzing neighborhoods, demographics, etc.

Once I'm comfortable I plan on going through the process again. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

thanks!

-Alan

Welcome Josh, I was supposed to go to that FF event Saturday too but ended up not because it doesn't sound right for me. I found the same threads and joined BP this weekend as well. Lots of good resources here, hope you find it helpful. Alan

Thank you all! I have lots to do and read so far and look forward to reading through it.

Trevor, I also purchased a property a few steps away from the heart of Webster Square, right there on Cambridge St. Thankfully it had positive flow right away, but it does need a bit of work inside and out to bring in a bit more on the positive side.

Hello all,

My name is Alan and I live in Shrewsbury MA. Tax-achusetts as we call it here. Other than my current home, which was also my first purchase, I am relatively new to the real estate world. In June of 2014 I jumped feet first into my first dealings with investment properties by purchasing a 3-family in Worcester Ma. Essentially it was a cheap-ish purchase with decent rental incomes. 

So far so good. I did have one eviction but the property management team has been dealing with all that fun. I have done a fair bit of research but looking to learn as much as possible from BP. My goal is to build my portfolio over time and ultimately I just want some stable income to support my ever growing family and if all works out, maybe I can pull off an early retirement. 

Thanks!

-Alan