All Forum Posts by: Toby Bergstrom

Welcome to Central MA. I second Shaun's recommendation to visit the Black Diamond meeting in Worcester. Message me if you want to chat about the Worcester market over coffee sometime.

$1000 is cheap and they have moved out of the apartment you wanted to move into... with that said you have decided to become a landlord and for ~$100 or so you can learn what might be a valuable lesson by learning about the process of bringing a tenant to court in Chicago. I've been to housing court here in central MA many times in the past 20 years suing and being sued. I've never lost, and except for 3 $15 payments toward a $2k judgement never collected a penny but I've learned a lot each time I've been in the court room.

The most important thing is take yourself seriously. Take the actions you need to take and when anyone asks what you do tell them seriously that you are a real estate investor, then tell them precisly what kind of properties you are looking for with details including locations. They will take you seriously when you do and don't worry about family they will come around when they see you taking action.

We've been in the Worcester market since '96 small multies 2s and 3s are pricy right now and some large buyers seem to be dumping cash on them. I made a full price offer on a pocket listing at a 7% CAP rate based on market rents not actual. There were 3 cash offers higher than mine...

Ryan, I see from your prrfile you are from CT. If you are home for the summer you may want to Google CTREIA it is a very active groop of investors. When you get back to Worcester check out the BackDiamond REIA we meet monthly in Worcester and don't charge a membership fee like our friends in CT. -PS Iike your style in picking a 32unit to run practice numbers on. When you are in Worcester send me a message and we can get together and chat about local oportunities.

I think the smart money is OK as long as it stays smart. Keep looking for the good deals and leave the rest to the people who watch too much cable TV. 

Welcome to BP an Worcester investing. If you haven't been to a Black Diamond REIA meeting yet you should join us at the next one in Worcester is June 16 at the Compass Tavern at 6PM if you want to meet for a coffee or something stronger and to chat about the market here send me a message and we can work something out.

My cashflow targets on 3s and 4s here are at about 100 / unit with 5% vacancy, 5% capx, and 10% management. 

 It's not a business if it's not self sufficient it's just a job you own.

Listen to podcast 108 then read "The 10x Rule" - Grant Cardone.  You will reinforce your decision...

As a landlord I've had to deal with a backed up sewer line on the weekend. When the the plumber said he couldn't fix it until the next day I immediately booked hotel rooms for the tenants in all of the affected apartments!

It actually took 2 days and the hotel was money well spent.