All Forum Posts by: James S.

Sarah,

Welcome to BP! Just being debt free puts you ahead of a lot of us in your age bracket, and you seem to be doing well professionally.

For our first purchase, my wife and I went the FHA route. I imagine this will be repeated a lot. There are certainly downsides to this approach, but being able to put only 3.5% down can help jump start your RE investing career, especially as capital can be a big problem when just starting out. I'd recommend trying to find a multi-unit property and owner occupy it for your first property. I don't know much about Weare, so I can't speak on that area specifically, but in NH it pays to wait for the right property...and then jump on it immediately when you can. A lot of properties that come up have zero or negative cash flow, so make sure the numbers are right before you dive in.

Nate,

I own (and know a few others) a few buildings on the "good" side of 108 downtown. Broadway is "trouble" as far as rural life goes, as you well know. An associate of mine who owns on Broadway is constantly having issues with the tenants there, in payment and turnover; he's looking to get out of the building. Not to deter you from the area, I think the further away from Red's you go the better off you are, but rents are still a fair bit lower on that side of 108 than on the left side. 

Which Broadway places are you looking at? I'm assuming 80 and 102? I'm don't know of your risk tolerance, or how steadfastly you stick to the 1%/2% rules etc., but I don't believe the returns are that high, though I'd have to bust out the calculator to support that. Of course, if you are looking to live rent free for a while, it certainly fits the bill.

I think Dover has already gentrified quite a bit in the past 5 years. Of course, this is going to continue in the long run (I've picked up 50k in appreciation in my neighborhood the last few years), but I don't know how much higher that area is going to go, especially the closer to the bridge you get. The geographic of the area just don't lend itself to looking pretty, regardless of how nice it is, and I think in Dover that matters. It just doesn't feel like a neighborhood in that little triangle area, though certainly a bit further up it certainly feels nice (like past the former St. Charles). Also it was floated tearing down the church and building 'workforce housing' there last year, not necessarily a boon to property values. I think there is still money to be made, but I'd be a bit wary about 'what floor' I got in on.

As much as I never would have said this a few years ago, I think Somersworth is the next spillover. It's not there yet, even close, but they redid Main St. from scratch and I cannot tell you how big of a difference it has already made on the road. Homes are getting new paint, rotted wood replaced, businesses opening up. It was a smart move by the city. There are still a lot of problems, but Somersworth compactness and closeness to Week's Crossing and the Spaulding I think make it the next logical choice for expansion from Dover. I don't want to discount the drug and poverty problem, but I think a lot of Somersworth will turn from C to B areas fairly soon. The GE plant is supposedly being bought too, and I think the whole area is ripe for redevelopment. 

I don't think I'm alone here; someone is buying up every duplex/triplex in the area in cash. Anything that's a dump, needs a ton of work, or is cheap, they are putting in cash offers in a few days. If I had cash I would be in on those deals. at sub 100k, some of these places can nearly make the 2% rule...a tough proposition in the seacoast.

Rochester I think is 15+ years away from the benefit of this I believe. People will price out of Somersworth and move there. 

Just my two cents, I'd love to be told I'm crazy so I can stop being interested in Somersworth.

@Nate Burnett Hi Nate! Glad to hear you'll be moving back to the NH seacoast, though I'm not sure we can hold a candle to Ireland! I'd love to hear more about your time there.

Back on topic, do you have any town in particular you are looking for? As I assume you are from here, you know that seacoast places like Portsmouth have been effectively priced out of "lower end" duplexes and the like, though they are definitely still out there. And when you mean lower end do you mean price, condition, or area? All three? Some combination therein? 

I feel like the 'seacoast' is getting further and further away. Everyone would say Dover is seacoast; people will soon be including Somersworth and Rochester in that distinction, where before people might be more willing to put them as part of the Lakes, as the explosion of the seacoasts values continue to push average people further and further north and west. 

I'd love to chat more with you about the subject. 

 Sorry, the Department of State. They have a passport agency up there in St. Albans.

 Thank you Ann, and I appreciate the advice, and agree wholeheartedly. My first rental experiences are with college students, which has been exceedingly easy, and I'd like that trend to continue. As you mentioned, the juxtaposition between what I can afford and what is a good beginner investment are usually inversely related. Not mutually exclusive of course, just exponentially more difficult. 

Thanks for the information.

For what it's worth, the DOS is planning on significantly expanding their agency up there. For a small town, an extra 100 jobs could help boost rents up there, especially since almost all of them will be moving from out of state to VT.

 Sounds good, I would love to know how you make you if you do indeed try investing in the area. The prices are an order of magnitude less than most of the state, so I am interested in the possibilities there. 

Hi Ann,

As someone from the seacoast but is interested in the area, could you say why to avoid those areas? Are they the worst areas to invest in? Looking at the street views of the areas, they look "OK" but the roads are in bad condition, which is one of my go-to's in determining the quality of a neighborhood. 

Are these just the poor areas of town, or is there a more systemic issue holding the area back from being a good area to invest in?

Regards,

James

@Seth Coleman Welcome!

I'm in Dover, feel free to hit me up if you'd like to chat.

Hi Brian,

I am not from Coos County, so take what I say with a giant grain of salt. I am not sure how familiar you are with Berlin as a city, so let's look at a few facts. As you may know, Berlin suffered a huge blow with the paper mills largely closing up shop in the area. A drive through the city will show you just how much of an effect it's had on the area. The best areas of Berlin look like 'C' Areas, to me. The city is broke, it's citizens are broke, and there is no real hope on the horizon of a turnaround, despite moving a prison up there. Unemployment is still nearly 8%, twice the NH average. Housing prices are the cheapest in NH. It's losing population, and job growth is projected at -4%. It has one of the lowest houshould wages in the state, at 38,000+/-. That ranks 227 out of 238 in NH. 

No doubt the allure of $10,000 triplexes are enticing, I know they are to me. Your risk tolerance, and desire to deal with problem tenants will dictate whether you want to invest there. I have no doubt people are making money. Keep in mind it's very isolated from the rest of us; hard to check on your property manager, if you can find a decent one. 

Also, off the record, I've been told by more than one official that NH welfare services tell people to move to Berlin all the time, because it is one of the only places they can realistically afford in NH. There are very few areas in the seacoast a poor person can live, and the 1-93 corridor is not that much better. So, you're going to have a lot more headache tenants, and you aren't going to make that much off their low rents, since demand is so low. Also, Berlin is seriously suffering for tax revenue, and in NH that only means one thing, rising tax rates. There aren't many more services to cut in Berlin (there is enough deferred maintenance there already), so higher taxes are the inevitable byproduct of that. 

Just my two cents, I'm sure there are people here making money in Berlin.