All Forum Posts by: Flavio Zanetti

I grew up right there. My brother has some MF properties in the area, and so does my uncle and cousin. It's an interesting area, very block by block. For example you've got Trinity College right there, which is a good school. Just steps away from campus you've got Frog Hollow which is one of the worst hoods in the country (at least it was when I was growing up there in the 90's, although it has gotten a little better). If the building is somewhere Trinity kids or University of Hartford students would want to live it could be a good play. However if it's got locals living in it, different story and really depends on the street.

Appreciation has been pretty flat over the past several decades within Hartford, but in the past few years it has actually picked up a little bit and is at least keeping up with inflation now. Cash flow can be good if you manage well, and have affordable maintenance and repair people.

As far as the Hartford market in general goes, I'll give you a little background. A lot of people don't know this, but Hartford was once the place everybody wanted to be. This was in the late 19th century, when its factories cranked out guns (Colt, Gatling, Browning, Sharps), tools (Stanley), clothing, textiles, cars (Pope), bikes (Columbia) and all kinds of goods. It became the wealthiest city in the country for a while during and after the Civil War. It was also the center of publishing and an intellectual hub at this time (Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Frederick Law Olmsted, Wallace Stevens). This made it a great place to be. Historians call it the "Silicon Valley of the 19th Century". Many advancements in manufacturing technology were made there, the city was flush with startup capital, and it became a magnet for the brightest minds who wanted to be on the cutting edge.

Hartford has been circling the drain ever since then. Today, the macro economics/demographics are not what most investors are looking for. Don't get me wrong, people are definitely investing there successfully, but as far as comparing it to other markets goes, it doesn't perform very well with the metrics most people are looking for: growth market with a strong economy, diverse job market, affordability (residents make enough to be able to buy property, which drives property values up), good schools and an increasing population. Sadly, Hartford is the opposite of all that as it has been in post-industrial terminal decline for a long time, without much hope of real change coming anytime soon.

Pros:

Favorable price to rent ratios.

Low barrier to entry/Property values are low compared to other markets.

Rents are skewed high because many renters have subsidized housing vouchers/Section 8.

High percentage of the population is made up of renters (Good rental market).

Cons:

High property taxes!! (and rapidly getting higher).

Rough tenant base.

Aging stock: buildings date back to the 1700's, many have deferred maintenance or are approaching physical obsolescence.

Declining population.

High crime: pretty sketchy by most people's standards, consistently ranks top 10 worst US cities for crime.

High poverty rate/High unemployment (Section 8 is a must)

Tenant-friendly laws (3-6 months on average for a simple eviction, $3-5k not including lost rent).

Corrupt/Jacked-up/inefficient local government. The city almost went bankrupt a few years ago, but was bailed out by the state last minute. Politics are kind of a mess. Every few years a new mayor is elected who promises to revive the city, but they usually end up in jail for something instead. 

 I'd actually recommend avoiding Hartford altogether. East Hartford, Middletown, Manchester and New Britain are better markets if you must invest in the area. New Britain is also very block by block though, so it's important to be careful and really know the area well. Make sure you have good management, a guy for evictions, and know that there are parts of town where it will be difficult to impossible to get anyone to manage your property (North End). 

Hey BP members, I was doing some research on tax advantages to switching solar in South Carolina for rental properties. From what I can see there is both a state tax credit (25% of the total system cost up to $35,000) and federal tax credit (30% with no cap), but am curious what other investors experience has been with having these installed on rental properties. It seems like it could be a viable strategy on to increase cashflow by having renters pay you vs. your local energy provider (i.e. you charge a flat rate per month to renters that covers your financing cost on the panels + a set amount for you to pocket).

Thanks in advance for everyone's thoughts/experiences! Happy Thanksgiving!

In my market, leased solar will typically devalue the property about $25k. Paid off solar is roughly flat. 

Manchester ... Tough area, you really need to know where you are buying. Properties are relatively cheap and can provide great cash flow, but there are significant risks. I'd look in surrounding towns first, like Hooksett, Bedford or Derry/Lodonderry. Much better schools, less risk. Better yet look closer to MA border. Like Nashua, Salem or Portsmouth.

Rochester ... one of the lowest income, high poverty, drugs areas among major NH markets. Now that said, NH crime rates are generally among the lowest in the country, So for someone from St. Louis Rochester may seem like paradise. But there are definitely better places then that to invest in NH. 

Portsmouth... Great area to be in, but got very expensive lately. Hard to find anything that makes any cash flow sense. Pricing getting very close to Boston.

Salem/Windham ... very good choice to invest in. Direct short from Boston on Interstate 93. You get all tax advantages of NH, with easy access to Boston Metro. (30 min to Boston proper)  This area is experiencing high pressure from Massachusetts as people are getting priced out from Boston Area and with work from home its looking better and better.

Nashua... Second largest city in NH, right on the state line, as Salem. Easily one of the best areas to invest. Its also only 45 min from Boston proper on Route 3. Also experiencing massive pressure from Massachusetts residents moving to NH. Vacancy rates are below 1% ( For the whole state of NH vacancies are around 2%). Real estate pricing still makes sense, and you can find cash flowing properties. Very low crime rates. Manchester airport is only 15 min away too. 
 

We liked the Margaritaville brand and that's the main reason. We thought with the proximity to Disney and the brand, it would do well. We do Airbnb with our Reunion property but not with Margaritaville since you can't rent on your own if you want guests to be able to access the pools. 

We looked at both areas and bought in Reunion. I love it there. It just has a great feel to it. You can rent on your own and choose any property management company or go with the Reunion property management. There is a membership that you can choose to belong to for access to golf and the waterpark but it's pricey. It's a lot less expensive if you rent through the Reunion property management company. We still have access to the community pools which are really nice. We manage our own since we are professional property managers and it's pretty seamless. Championsgate is also really nice but as soon as I drove through Reunion, I was hooked. There are some massive homes and PGA golf courses there too which gives it a really upscale feel. This is a link to our property there. We bought it for $365,000 as a turnkey.  It took a little while to get rolling since there are a ton of rentals there but we've been marketing it through social networks, media channels (including USA Today) charities, and friends and it's picking up steam. I'd say the biggest thing is to find a unique property if you can so that you have more to compete on besides price. https://www.simpleliferentals.com/details.aspx?PropertyID=266935