All Forum Posts by: Michael Murray

@Jim Mitchell, I use SPC Home Maintenance out of Campton, NH. I've only been working with them for 3 months so far but so far so good.

@Claudio Golia It's a SFR. My house has propane heat and I get a discounted rate since I'm part of a group of homes that negotiate rates collectively. It's still pricey though as they do get pretty liberal with the heat so I have to charge more in the winter. I drop my price very low during the weekdays (around the rates of the nearby hotels) to get occupancy days up but I won't do that in the winter because of the added utility cost.

Claudio,

I did this about 2 years ago in Campton, NH right at the start of the White Mountains. At first I just bought the house (2 BR/ 2 BA) for me and my family. Then started renting it out here and there. Mostly Air BnB but some Craigslist. It's a great area that rents out all for seasons. Winter is a no-brainer in the area with Loon, Waterville Valley (about 8 miles from my pad), Canon. But being close to Franconia Notch also makes it a great area for hikers which gets me a lot of Spring, Summer, and Fall renters. April and November are pretty slow but the rest of the year is great.

As I said, I started out renting here and there but I've gotten the pricing on AirBnB down so well now that my vacancies are very low. We really only use the house in the Summer so that means I can rent the heck out of it. One thing to note is that as a second home you're insurance policy usually allows you to rent out up to 6 weeks per year. If you go over that you're violating your policy. I've had to get a new policy and reclassify my house as a rental property. My insurance policy went from $900/year to $1,500/year. I've also gotten a property management company in the area to take calls from renters 24/7 instead of those calls going to me. I pay a $100/mo retainer for that and $50/hr for any calls out.

Even with the increased costs I'm pocketing about $150/mo. It's a part time job though. I haven't found a cleaning person with rates that work for me yet so I've been doing all the cleaning myself. Since most of my renters are 2-3 night stays if I have to hire a cleaner every time my revenue decreases by 25%. Once I figure out that piece I'll be all set but until then, I'm hustling up and down (about 1.5 hours) between renters. 

-mike

Can anyone recommend an accountant that specializes in real estate in the Massachusetts North Shore area?

Welcome @David B. and hi to all the MA/NH/ME representation on here. Looking strong.

@Derreck Wells - I'm closing in on a deal in Derry, NH and will definitely take you up on your lead paint database lookup offer! Look for my PM.

@Cynthia Nina-Soto - Nice work on both properties and congrats on your early success. I'm partnering with my contractor as well. Hopefully we have the same luck. We've been going to auction, driving for dollars, and doing some listsource direct mailings. Some close bites on the off-market stuff but nothing has panned out yet. Those mailers are a long game though and I'll keep hitting them. But spending lots of time prospecting on the MLS with nothing really close yet. Have been focusing on Haverhill/Methuen/Billerica/Tewksbury and surrounding areas. Also southern NH. It's like dropping meat in a school of pirahnas when the sub 200k cash deals hit.

@Nino Alfano - thanks for the response. Do you have any specific examples?

Hey gang,

I'm wondering if people have done a lot of deals off of MLS and if they could share the numbers. I'm in the suburbs of northern Boston and it's tough to find anything that pencils out. I hear and read a lot about deals from off-market properties, wholesalers, etc but would love to see some analysis on MLS properties that were strong deals as well.