All Forum Posts by: Michael Doherty

@Sam Sams Like Ryan said- I am also very hyper focused when it comes to investing in Ct. I invest specifically in New Britain, Middletown and Manchester. I would consider East Hartford and Bristol but I currently own/owned in the 3 towns mentioned above. If your looking for cash flow I would recommend starting there. 

Just like most other cities, it can be very street by street dependent from the standpoint of crime/drugs ect. For perspective I will not get involved in project... lets say in New Britain for example for under 300 cash flow per door (after everything). And that is pretty easy to accomplish relatively speaking. Let me know if you have any questions or if I can be of any help. 

@Nick Pedrolini congrats on getting started, sounds like your doing all the right things to set yourself up for success. 

I have been house hacking since 2017. I bought my first duplex in New Britain and lived on one side while the tenants paid for my PITI. My out of pocket expense was $200 plus utilities. This allowed me to save pretty much my entire paycheck to afford the next property and so forth.It's a great way to compound capital and save while gaining the first hand landlord experience.

If I had to go back and do it all over again, I would try and purchase as 3-4 family building and really take advantage of the first time home buyer low down loan option. Also, when running your numbers, make sure you run the analysis as if you don't live there. Because some day you wont... and you want to make sure the property will cash flow. 

Fast forward 3 years, my gf who lived with me in that first duplex actually bought a 3 family in New Britain and we are now house hacking her property. I still own the first duplex to this day and have acquired 3 more buildings. I most recently started helping other investors run the numbers and buy and sell Multi-Family/Commercial investments. Let me know if I can be of a resource in anyway. Congrats again! 

@Dan Mackin awesome, thank you- I'll check it out!

Hi all,

My girlfriend and I have been house hacking and sharing walls with tenants for about 4 years now. It's been great, we have saved a lot of money and our portfolio has grown because of it. However, the 11pm footsteps/ moving noises above you while your trying to sleep is starting to get real old. We are stuck on the second floor and have the 1st and 3rd floor rented out on year leases. Both sets of tenants are great, it's nothing against them for 'being too loud'.... you're just naturally going to hear everything going on at all hours. 

Instead of just pulling the trigger and buying a single family house, I thought of trying to sound proof the walls/ceilings. We like where we live its just getting bit too noisy. Has anyone else solved this issue by using some sort of insulation you can put between the joists in the ceiling to minimize the footstep/moving around noises you inevitably hear daily? 

Would love to hear what others have done to solve this issue. Perhaps... it is what is is and it comes with the territory. 

I know of a lender that will finance 15% down on a 1-4 unit non owner occupied property. I just closed on a 2 family using this program 3 weeks ago. The only stipulation is that the the ARV must be 80% of the loan amount, so you need to buy at a slight discount.

For example- Purchase price 140k- 15% down equals a loan amount of 119k. 119k/ARV= 80% or greater.

In my specific example- I bought the house for 140k. I put 15% down which put my loan at 119k. The ARV or appraisal from the bank needed to be at least $148,750... it came in slightly higher.

My loan is a 30yr fixed @6.1% 

let me know if you have any questions. 

@Shiloh Lundahl I bought at foreclosed over sized 2 family last year for 118,500. I put about 30k into it. It appraised at 205k and I did a cash out refi at 75% LTV. My PITI is about $1470 a month with a 6.6% 30 year fixed loan.

I have both units rented out for $2775 a month... tenant paid utilities. I cash flow $1275 a month after PITI.

@Michael Spindler as a first time home buyer, I would look to house hack and use a low down loan option. 3-3.5% FHA or CHFA or go for a low down 5% conventional loan. I know of some programs where you can use a low down conventional loan and avoid PMI.

@Account Closed I've been doing a little bit of everything as of late. I bought 2 foreclosures last year- one was a buy and hold brrrr in Middletown, Ct (one of my best performing properties) and another was a flip I actually just listed yesterday in New Britain, Ct. I invest for cash flow- New Britain and Middletown is where my entire portfolio is located. Surplus of tenants and reasonably priced property. 

Let me know if you have any questions about the rental market in central, ct. 

@Indro Dhar I own in Middletown and New Britain. Both are great towns for cash flow. Hartford can be as well, but taxes are what deter most people. I own right next to Wesleyan University in Middletown but the college is a residential campus. Meaning students are required to live in college providing housing for their entire college career. 

From a landlords perspective this means you cannot rely on undergraduates renting your apartment, only Graduate students... Trinity college in Hartford is run the same way... also a residence campus. 

With that said, I would not let that deter you from investing there, it's an up and coming town where I have already started to see appreciation and I had no issues getting top dollar for my units. Let me know if you have any questions about investing in Central Ct, specifically New Britain or Middletown. 

@Karen F. If it ends up working out, I would just put them on a month to month lease, no need to get involved with short term rentals/vacation rentals ect. You can up charge them whatever you feel is necessary for taking on the additional risk of month to month.