All Forum Posts by: James Blais

@Melissa Nevich

If you want me to do a drive by let me know. I can take a pic and give you an opinion of the neighborhood. I won't steal the house from you! I'm doing a deal right now. PM if you want.

@Melissa N.

Thomaston is a quaint little town west of where I live. It has a typical New England downtown Main St., volunteer fire department, EMTs, town police, cool little places to eat and a lot of small businesses. The bigger neighboring cities like Bristol, Waterbury, and Torrington have larger employers and all the big box stores and chains. It has great access to Rt 8 which can get you to those bigger cities quickly. Those bigger cities have more traffic, crime, noise, etc., Thomaston is a little more rural. Like Bristol, it is a working class town with modest single family homes and multi-families. Like most towns there are nicer sections as well. There are some beautiful historic homes! 

I don't know if there are any large employers in town or nearby. Which makes me wonder if people think to look for apartments there. Search the Hartford and Northwestern CT Craiglist apartment ads and you'll see the supply is low. Good or bad? I don't know. Subjective I know but I could live there.

I hope this give some idea of Thomaston.

I have a coworker who knows NB. He looked at me crossed when I mentioned Tremont St. You are right, not worth the headache.

Welcome @Nick Breault I own a 3 family in Bristol and would welcome tips on investing in New Britain. Not gonna sugar coat it, investing in either town requires knowledge of the neighborhoods. Keep me in mind if you need info on Bristol.

Thanks everyone!

I've been using the BP analysis tools on a few prospects. How do you folks feel about cap rates and coc? Two properties I've analyzed came up favorable (to me) on both numbers.  

House 1: 8.34/16.52

House 2: 9/15.71

I'm using actual tax dollars, higher interest rates @ 5%, high utility bills, etc. 

Just wondering if these calculations provide enough evidence of a good deal.

Hello BP!

Excited to find BP as there is A LOT of good and useful information on here. 

I'm a newbie with some experience as I own a multi-family in Bristol.  While reading here, I've learned that I've done many things correctly and some things not so.

My goals are to expand my portfolio with more MF in central CT. Bristol, Southington, Wolcott, Plainville, Plymouth, Thomaston and Farmington are in my comfort zone. I know these places and I think that's where my strengths lie.

I'm excited to learn more and network with BP members.

Hello from Connecticut.

BP is  fantastic resource! I can't stop reading!

I currently own a two family with my two brothers. We inherited/bought the property off our other siblings. We kept our share and mortgaged the balance to pay off the siblings. We have knocked down the mortgage by 25% since 2013.

Another two-family came on the market in the same neighborhood and we'd like to buy it.

My questions are on financing. Should we use the equity in the investment property to but the new IP? Should we get a business loan and wrap the two mortgages together? Should I use a HELOC on my primary residence to fund the new purchase?

My brothers do not have great credit scores so it's all on my credit score.

I can keep asking questions but that would be really noob of me!

Thanks for your valued advice!

jim