All Forum Posts by: Wendell Butler

@Filipe Pereira that’s exactly what I was feeling too, just a matter if I can initially get qualified enough to get in the range of some triplexes. Appreciate your insight!

@Brian J Allen great input Brian! I will definitely start coming out soon to get a feel for properties and start learning more. I will keep in touch and I appreciate your emails so far!

@Spenser Hachey I will definitely have to take a drive around there, I have not really explored there much! Thanks for your input.

@Michael DeLaMarre awesome, thank you so much for that information! I appreciate it, and will definitely keep all that in mind.

@Michael DeLaMarre awesome to know! Do you have any areas in Worcester you would recommend. I won’t be making this move until august (saving up and educating myself ). So I have time to really research and look around which is good.

I am currently living in a condo with a roommate helping me pay my mortgage. I re-did the kitchen, floors (hardwood), bedrooms and finished the basement.

I am looking to use the equity I built in this condo as well as money I am currently saving to jump into real estate investing. My first move would be to use my VA loan (no money down) and either get a Duplex/Triplex, live in one of the units and rent out the rest for a year while invest in other properties. I would fix up my side while living there most likely - touch up the other sides before renting out.

I live in Worcester, MA and the real estate here is very expensive. For a Duplex I feel I have to get no more than a 250k property to break even while living there (been looking around and hard to find). A Triplex would cash flow more, but it would be a big stretch (Maybe future rent would help me get one) and I feel be better long term.

Should I start with a duplex and have not much cash flow if any or try to stretch into a triplex? Any areas around worcester that people are currently investing in that has been working well and a little cheaper?

@Michael Hohrath awesome, yeah the house hacking is what i plan to do with the duplex’s. I will definitely keep in touch. I’ll send you a connection as well.

@Michael Hohrath how were you able to only do 5% down for an investment property? Or are you living in it as well?

I was initially thinking 3-4 plex’s, but for my investments I am going to make most of my profit initially off of the single family lease-to-own plan. Buy them at a discount, the lease-to-own eliminates property manager costs as well as me being a hands on manager, and once sold after 2-3 years (that’s what I am shooting for) you get appreciation profit, the discount profit back and while they are leasing you get cash flow from rent. Hopefully I can get 2-3 properties at one time doing this.

The duplex is just icing on the cake using the VA loan to start adding long term rental properties to my portfolio. Live a year at one, move out and repeat process with VA loan. Not looking to do this long term, but maybe for a few years to get around 3 of them going. That can create additional small cash flow and build equity. Once they are in place long enough I can sell them at the right time and use that profit to upgrade to a 3-4 plex and continue that snowball effect until I can get a commercial property.

Obviously just my plan, and plans change, but I think it’s a sound one. It’ll take patience, dedication and discipline though.

@Felix Rodriguez I like that idea. Very cool way to get yourself into commercial which can be very profitable!

My Condo is in Worcester, MA (Grafton Hill Area) - as in short term rental it's more as referring to as I live here renting to my roommate, I am looking to definitely sell it to free up the equity I have in the condo to jumpstart my investing and move into a duplex with a VA loan.

And that is definitely true, about the shark invested investor area here. With my price range that's another reason I am exploring all over MA as well, not only Worcester to Boston, until i build more equity (Of course I feel Worcester has a lot of potential though, so getting properties here for a good price would be beneficial). I am open to Western, MA as well, mostly for the Single Family home Lease-to-Own idea. 

For the Duplex I will look around Worcester and close by here for my work, will definitely be hard to find something in my price range - but maybe in a few months when all the foreclosures/pre-foreclosures due to COVID go back on market I can find a good deal.