All Forum Posts by: Patrick Hopkins

Nathan Seavey congrats on becoming a landlord! Chelsea has come a long way!

Steve Vasconcelos have you looked into Medford and Salem? And before you are considering Providence, check out Framingham, Natick, and Norwood. If you'd like to chat more, I'm happy to discuss. Just DM me.

Happy to, and my apologies for the typos in my post – typing too quickly on my iPhone. Please PM me your contact info and I'll send out a intro email!

Hi Andrew, I have a great resource who is a instance broker I've worked with for years. They do use replacement cost, but would hurt to get a second opinion. Happy to connect you if your interested.

Jeffrey R. Is there only one heating system? If not, your tenants should be paying heat/HW. If they are separate, I would err on the conservative side of rents. I'm happy to run real comps if you'd like me to take a look. Also, as Ann Bellamy mentioned, make sure you take into account your taxes and insurance (PITI).

5 years ago I was working in corporate finance and had always wanted to get into real estate. Before jumping into investing, I decided it would be best to learn how transactions work. Flash forward, for the past 4+ years I've been working as a full time real estate agent for a top team in eastern Massachusetts (typically we will work within an hour of the city if it makes sense).

Welcome Zach. Dedham and the surrounding towns are an excellent place to be. Check into BP regularly to read the forums, guides, and see what's working for others. Listen to the BP podcasts and attend your local REI meeting. I think there may be one in Dedham. Let me know if I can help with any specific questions.

@Keith W. I have an excellent attorney that will be able to assist in drafting the condo docs and conversion.

If you have a preapproval (assuming you are getting financing) it would take about 5-10 minutes to fill out the documents and have you e-sign. If you need a preapproval, my network of lenders can have that done in under an hour and then add on my 5-10 minutes. And you only need 1 preapproval (or proof of funds) to submit an offer.

I agree with @Ricky Beliveau  - there are better investment opportunities out there.  I never advise to bank on appreciation because while areas like Southie/Seaport don't seem to be letting up anytime soon, it's still a gamble.  I would look for something that has better numbers NOW, and then once it appreciates it is all the more sweeter.

That being said, @Zack Karp made a good point. If you are confident in the appreciation after a year, you can refinance into a conventional loan and even at less than 80% LTV you will have PMI but it will be pretty minimal and will automatically drop off once you hit 22% equity (unless you feel you have 20% equity and you can request another appraisal, but appraisals aren't free either). I did something similar myself and purchased a SF for my primary residence with 5% down, a year later the market is up and I made several improvements so I will be getting an appraisal to drop the PMI.