All Forum Posts by: Fan Bi

@Robert Chen Do you mind me asking if your insurance broker was helpful at all during this process, if your property manager was, or if you had to navigate the process by yourself? 

@Raymond Hill The hardest part of being a first-time investor is knowing what to put for variables such as vacancy, maintenance, capex, utilities. The seller will tell you one thing, but I've found it's usually pretty inaccurate. The most important thing is to build in a margin of safety, which is very hard in today's environment. Happy to share any of our data, good luck out there.

Hey Daniel, I think it's worth taking a look at Providence, it's accessible by MBTA. 

We did an audit of cap rates in 2016 going in concentric circles around Boston and found that once you crossed the border things started getting far more attractive. We were in a similar position in that we were cash-light but being able to take down a four-family for < $300,000 made everything workable. 

@Tarcizio Goncalves Congrats! I don't have plans on moving into RI, but will look to continue to invest. When you say you're looking at commercial apartments, how many units are you looking at, and where are you finding them? 

I hear you about the lack of inventory and the prices. We've been on the sidelines for a few months because prices are just so aggressive.

@Jacob A. I don't think you're missing anything. Even with higher out-of-state taxes, you still can find very attractive yields in Providence. As soon as you cross the border from MA to RI, prices just drop 35%. Especially if you're open to a C-class neighborhood, there are still plenty of deals to be had. I actually think the best 5-year play is in Pawtucket, where they're building a stop for the MBTA to Boston. Add in the new PawSox stadium (if that ends up closing), there's a good amount of revitalization happening. But as @Anthony Thompson said, whether this ends up meaning more tax liabilities, time will tell. 

@Tarcizio Goncalves Did you ever decide between Providence and Worcester? My wife and I were in a very similar position, i.e. priced out of Boston and we decided on Providence. We continued renting in Boston but were buying multis in Providence. I completely agree with @Anthony Thompson that it's very hard to find deals on the Eastside. For comparison, we bought a two-family on the Eastside for $235,000 that has a rent roll of $2,500. Around a similar time, we bought a four-family in The Armory neighborhood for $175,000 (and put $10,000 into it) and it's rent roll is $3,100. 

@Bruno C. do you mind me asking if you're sell-managing or third-party managing your place in Pawtucket? I'm also an out-of-state investor with properties in RI. 

@Steve Bracero they are not, but I've read some investors with a central line still divide it up and just state that in the lease agreement. I just don't know if that's legal in RI. 

Curious if anyone has thoughts on RI towns for buy-and-hold investing, and targeting A, B, C, D type properties? When we first started investing in the area, we were amazed at the rent rolls (vs acquisition price) compared to Boston, but we haven't done a good job managing as maintenance costs, utilities, vacancy and evictions have eaten into the margin. Thankfully there has been a large margin of safety when the properties were acquired but definitely not as good as we modeled out. 

We've mostly targeted Providence and Pawtucket Class C-D properties, and wonder how they stack up to people's experiences in other towns and better properties.

@Jimmy Murray I see that you've been referenced a few times as the go-to property manager in the area. We own 26 units in the Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls area and are getting dinged pretty hard by maintenance bills. These are mostly C-D class properties/ tenant profiles so I get that there'll be some work to be done, but I've also heard from other investors that most maintenance costs can be passed onto the tenant. Curious if you have thoughts here?