Landlords in Profile: Erin Zamarro

By Eric Weld, MassLandlords, Inc.

For Erin Zamarro, real estate is about people. Her tenants in the rentals she owns. Her clients and prospective buyers and sellers she meets as a broker. Other landlords and property owners. One of her favorite aspects of being a landlord is getting to know and learning from people she encounters in her business.

Erin Zamarro. CC BY-SA Erin Zamarro.

Zamarro, a real estate broker in Worcester for 13 years and a landlord for nearly as long, was recently elected to the MassLandlords Board of Directors. A MassLandlords member since 2017,  Zamarro completed Level 2 as a Certified Massachusetts Landlord. She has frequently served as a networking liaison at association live events and as Open Q&A host on zooms.

Zamarro is also a member of the National Association of Realtors, serves on the Worcester Parks Commission and volunteers as chairperson for the Worcester County St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee.

As a businessperson heavily ensconced in Worcester rental real estate, Erin Zamarro believes deeply in the MassLandlords mission of creating better rental housing, she says. She is committed to protecting people’s property rights as they juggle the challenges of landlording. “Not all regulations are bad,” she says, “but a lot of regulations have unintended consequences.”

One example she cites and has experience with is the state’s Section 8 approval process, which can become protracted and inefficient. “Landlords and tenants can get very frustrated with it,” she notes. “These layers of bureaucracy can be very frustrating.”

Another area Zamarro would like to support is an increase in the presence of women property investors. “There’s not a ton of real estate investment among women,” she says, “it’s dominated by men. Real estate brokerage is dominated by women, but I would love to see a little bit of increase in women investing in real estate.”

As an active part of her support, Zamarro belongs to a national Facebook group called Lady Landlords.

One of two multifamilies owned by Erin Zamarro and her husband, Anthony, in Worcester. Image: cc by-sa Erin Zamarro.

The Rental Real Estate Business

Though Zamarro has cultivated property ownership and real estate business as major components of her life, she didn’t initially intend to build a life as a landlord and broker. After completing an MBA from Clark University, marrying and starting a family, she was laid off from a job when the global and local economies crashed in 2008, “along with half the world,” she recalls. “I was pregnant with twins at the time, and job opportunities were limited.”

So, she accepted an offer for a job in local real estate from an acquaintance who owned Worcester properties and worked as a broker. She earned her real estate license and broker’s license and built her brokerage, A.A. Zamarro Realty. Now, 14 years later, Zamarro and her husband, Anthony, own two properties with eight rental units in Worcester, alongside raising their three kids: twins, aged 14, and their 13-year-old son. Zamarro is now affiliated with Coldwell Banker Realty.

It hasn’t always been smooth running a real estate business, Zamarro admits. “There have been points when real estate is challenging,” she says, “and I’ve thought, ‘I could get a job in a different industry.’ But when the rubber hits the road, I’ve decided I don’t want to sit in an office, I don’t want to sit behind a desk.”

And as always, it’s the people she meets that help her appreciate her career decisions. “It’s new people, new places every day. I enjoy that, I enjoy being out every day, I love all the different people. You don’t get that behind a desk. You don’t get that behind a computer monitor.”

Always About the People

Real estate investing, after all, is investing in people and community, says Zamarro. “Real estate is an investment you can shape on your own,” she says. “When you invest in real estate, you’re part of a neighborhood. When you invest in local real estate, you’re also investing in your city.”

She enjoys the diversity of interactions and personalities she comes across in her business. “You meet a lot of characters in real estate,” she says. “You get to see very different perspectives.”

One of her multifamilies is home to “mostly college students,” she describes. “It’s definitely interesting to see their take on things sometimes,” relating with them and sharing experiences.

Another of her tenants, an immigrant from Zimbabwe, embraced Worcester’s St. Patrick’s Day celebrations last year, she remembers. “I love making these kinds of connections,” she says. “I will ask him for committee membership next year.”

Long-Term Investments

While she loves her career in real estate, Zamarro admits it wasn’t always easy. She entered the industry in a precarious time, following the global economic crisis of 2008. “It was really hard in the beginning, getting started,” she says. “There was a lot to learn about real estate. The value of people’s homes had come down, a lot of people were upside down, a lot of multifamilies were going into foreclosure. Properties were not being maintained, people were stuck in these unkept properties, owners were walking away from their properties.”

Over the years, she has seen fellow rental property owners sell out and leave the business altogether, or sell part of their holdings due to the difficulty of real estate.

But for Zamarro and her husband, real estate investment is a long-term business, not about immediate return. “I still see this as a great way to build long-term wealth,” she says. “When we bought these properties we didn’t buy them for income today, we bought them for income tomorrow, whether we eventually sell the assets down the road, or hold them for rental income.”

For aspiring real estate investors, Zamarro advises preparedness. “It can be scary to buy property,” she says. “It’s going to absorb a lot of your time, probably a bunch of your money. There’s never going to be a perfect property, or a perfect investment. Pick what fits your lifestyle. You might think you know what’s going to happen, but there’s always going to be wildcard situations. Once you’ve handled a few of those, you can handle more. It’s about being ready for it, doing your homework. And being proactive, not reactive.”

Erin Zamarro and her husband, Anthony, own two Worcester multifamily properties comprising eight rental units. Image: cc by-sa Erin Zamarro.

Investing in Her Community

As a real estate investor and landlord, Zamarro practices what she prescribes. “We live in Worcester, we want to invest here,” she says, “where we can take good care of our investments.”

For Zamarro, remaining engaged with her properties and the people who live in them is not only enjoyable. It’s also smart business practice, and pays off over time.

“We invest quite a bit in our properties,”she says of her and her husband. “I feel that if you have a property that is well-maintained, and you repair stuff and respond quickly, you will have fewer headaches, you will have better involvement with your tenants. And, I believe you will spend less money in the long run.”

MassLandlords, Inc., welcomes Erin Zamarro to its Board of Directors.