All Forum Posts by: Rob L.

@Kush Patel I know a RUBS system is allowed for water if you follow the states guidelines, not sure though on electrical. Converting the apartment building to RUBS for water would be my priority if I was you. Based off your numbers above water is 6 times more costly then the electrical for common areas. 

Your best bet is to call some companies that do the installations for RUBS water systems and ask around about electrical. 

Hopefully someone else from Massachusetts may have experience with electrical submetering on apartments.

Hey @Kush Patel, is this for the same deal? I believe in mass you can only do this if the property is under 4 units. Just to confirm, are you referring to charging the tenants for electricity in the common areas? 

Thanks @Account Closed , that is scary...informative read though. 

So my first real estate investment (which was also my worst) was a condo I bought to live in a 37 unit complex. The entire complex was renovated in 2007 and long story short the developer ended up going belly up. So a investor bought the remaining units and has recently started to buy up the remaining units in the building. 

It looks like they own about 18-20 of the 37 total units which from my understanding makes the remaining units Non-warrantable. 

My assumption is they want to convert the entire complex to apartments and sell it off for a hefty profit. I'm just curious if anyone has come up against this? I'm curious what my play is here.

My unit is rented and brings in about 100 dollars a month after all expenses, so it just barely cash flows. My plan was to keep it for 15-20 years as its in a good area and it attracts high quality tenants and wait for the appreciation gain. But, with the investor buying up more units (5 so far this year) I'm not sure what my best play is. Buyers cant get conventional loans and with a growing tenant base its only going to deter people even more. 

The crazy part is the amount they are paying for the units it does not make sense from a cash flow perspective... that's why I'm assuming their goal is to buy all the units and sell it off as a apartment building and make money off the sale.  

Any advice? Would it be worthwhile to hold out as long as possible? I don't need the funds for buying other property so I feel like my situation can only get better as they buy up more and more units the price per unit will have to go up. Am I missing something? 

 If I left out any pertinent info just let me know

Hey @James Loisou , This may help. I found this when I was researching water sub metering last year.

http://www.masslegalhelp.org/housing/booklets/water-law

On March 16, 2005, a water submeter law went into effect in Massachusetts. This law allows landlords to bill tenants for water if the tenant moved into an apartment on or after March 16, 2005 and the property meets the law’s requirements.

Under the water law, landlords may bill tenants separately for water if all of the following requirements are met

• Landlord has installed submeters that measure actual water used in your apartment;
• Landlord has installed low-flow fixtures;
• Your tenancy started on or after March 16, 2005
• Previous tenant was not forced out;
• There is a written rental agreement that spells out water bill arrangements; and
• Landlord has filed proper certification.

If the landlord has failed to follow any one of the above requirements, he or she cannot bill you directly for water. To find out more about the new water law download the one-page flyer and booklet. 

@James Loisou I have not but I'm curious if anyone else has. Have you called around for quotes on this yet? 

I'm not sure how many units this multi is but if you separate the water and individually meter each unit their are special laws that you have to adhere to in mass that might deter you unless it is a big enough property. 

Hey @Brian OKeefe , Welcome to BP!  Small world, I actually work out of Wellesley but I live and invest up north of Boston in the Haverhill area. 

You have definitely found the best resource for all things real estate that's for sure. 

@Jeffrey Rubino Congrats on finding your potential first deal. I live right by lowell and I went to school at ulowell so I'm familiar with the area. 

I couple things jumped out at me when I read you post. If your buying with a LLC you will need to put down 20-25%. So not sure on the price of the property but I'm assuming it will be atleast 200k for a two family. Have you thought about doing a owner occupied purchase? You would have to live in it for one year but it sounds like you have the down payment, usually 3-5% for owner occupied.

Also, as others have mentioned I would get more information on the property. You said it brings in $800 a month? Is that after all expenses? before? 

This is a great resource so I would try to get as much information on the property as possible, rents, utilities, insurance, etc and that should help to determine if you have a deal or not.  

Thats quite the interesting situation @Lafontant Cherilus . If your getting owner occupied then the residence is suppose to be your Primary residence and I would think weekends wouldn't cut it. But, I'm not a mortgage broker, hopefully someone that is can chime in. I get what your saying, there are plenty of traveling jobs where your off all week at work and not home  the majority of the time. 

@Ariel O. We save so much time with the online payments I'm willing to take the risk. Of course that hasn't happened to us yet (hopefully it never does) but who knows maybe I will be singing a different tune if it does.