Buying a Multi-Family Investment Property

If you are interested in buying a multi-family investment property, there are so many directions you can take. And a lot of those directions lead to dead ends and bad news. 

That’s because there’s all kinds of crap out there. You have your seminars, your TikTok influencers, your YouTube influencers and all kinds of people promising you “no money down” or BRRR strategies or seller financing or the 1% rule or so many other things.

I am here to tell you the good news and the bad news. The bad news is that all of the “strategies” listed above do not work in the markets I specialize in (Cambridge, Somerville and Medford). Save yourself the time and money - the vast majority of these people are selling you pipe dreams. If there’s one piece of advice I would give you, it’s that it takes hard work and time to become a successful multi-family investor. There are no magic pills.

Now for the good news. Cambridge, Somerville and Medford are arguably the best towns in the state to invest in multi-families. Why? Here’s a short list:

  • A few miles to downtown Boston

  • Extremely T accessible (10-20 minute commute to Boston from many neighborhoods

  • Tons of development happening, especially in Somerville and Cambridge 

  • Extremely wealthy base of buyers from MIT, Harvard, local hospitals, biotech industry, and young professional commuters

  • Limited available housing inventory 

  • Consistently increasing rents, renter demand, and property values for many years

Now for some more not-so-great news. Cambridge, Somerville and Medford are great areas to invest in and therefore, they are also extremely competitive. 

There are lots of people buying in these areas and you are often competing with other buyers with deep pockets. On the flip side, their level of experience varies wildly which has its pros (sometimes you can get a great deal that on the surface doesn’t look so great) and its cons (sometimes inexperienced buyers will wildly overpay for properties, making it harder to find deals that make sense).

This is where I come in. Why should you trust me when it comes to buying a multi-family property in Cambridge, Somerville or Medford? 

First, I have dedicated my life to all things investment properties in these areas. I genuinely have a passion for this stuff and I spend an insane amount of time looking at multi-families. I am renting these properties, helping buyers buy these properties, and helping sellers position and sell their properties, 7 days a week. 

Second, I am an agent that is truly “on the ground”. I hate when agents say this, but I think it’s a point not to be taken lightly. When you are interacting with landlords, renters, buyers, and sellers of multi-family properties in a very limited geographical area everyday for years, you pick up on trends before the news catches up. 

So this means I tend to see when rent growth may be stagnating or picking up in a particular neighborhood. I see how tenant profiles evolve in a particular area. I see and hear feedback from renters and buyers on a daily basis that helps me understand what people want and what people do not want. 

And to me, that’s the whole ball game. If you know what the tenants want and how much the tenants are willing to pay, then you know what to buy and how to properly input your numbers. 

If I had a dollar for every time I met a multi-family buyer who just purchased a new property and were promised rents that were $1,000, $2,000 or $3,000 higher than the true market rents, I would probably have a few hundred dollars.

So if you’re thinking of buying a multi-family and want to chat, give me a ring and let’s talk!