Collegeville, PA · Member since 2014 · 17 posts · 6 votes
Hi everyone, I just graduated from school and, as my first step into investing, am considering purchasing a duplex in either West Mount Airy or Chestnut Hill, both near Philadelphia. I would live in one unit and rent out the other. Does anyone know a bit about the renting market there? More importantly, whether those are safe areas and other facts that might affect my decision to purchase there? I drove through both last Saturday night and they seemed nice and safe, but I'm looking for as many perspectives as possible.
HVAC mechanic · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2015 · 241 posts · 57 votes
10y
You can check crimereport.com to see what's happening in the area, but I'm pretty sure those are good areas. You can go to rentometer.com and put the address in and will give you average rents in the area
HVAC mechanic · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2015 · 241 posts · 57 votes
10y
You can check crimereport.com to see what's happening in the area, but I'm pretty sure those are good areas. You can go to rentometer.com and put the address in and will give you average rents in the area
Realtor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2015 · 95 posts · 31 votes
10y
@Joshua G. I lived in Mount Airy for 17 years. Many areas are nice, but there are some areas not so safe. What area in particular are you looking at? Chestnut Hill is definitely a great area. It has an olde town feel, with cobblestones and quaint shops. As a matter of fact, I just saw a duplex on Realtor.com in CH.
Safety ratings tend to vary by neighborhood. Feel free to contact me I'll be happy to send you some current listings, rent comps along with safety reports.
Collegeville, PA · Member since 2014 · 17 posts · 6 votes
10y
@Richard Fields Thanks! Those are exactly the sort of resources I was looking for.
@Patricia Joseph I'm not definite on any part of the area quite yet, but was interested in the area around W Allens Lane and north. I think it would be amazing to find a place in walking distance of Germantown Ave. But I'm open to suggestions! Where did you live in Mount Airy?
@Percy N. Thank you, Percy! I will keep you in mind as my plans become more concrete.
@Shawn Washington Thank you, Shawn! I will send you a private message to follow up.
I currently live in East Mount Airy. In fact I have lived here for 26 years. I find that West Mt. Airy is very safe as well as Chestnut Hill. Check out the safety reports on the Philadelphia Police Department website. Now, there are some pockets of not so nice areas on the east side of Mount Airy close to the West that I would stay away from, but you a not looking in this area.
The homes in this area are mostly twins and single homes. It is an expensive area with very few multifamily units. You will find some duplexes and even triplexes in the are but they will be closer to Washington Ave. Multifamily units coming onto the market is rare in West Mt. Airy and eve rarer in the area around Allens Lane.
Outside of Center City, Chestnut Hill is the most expensive neighborhood in the Northwest section of the city. Multi-millionaires call this neighborhood home. I seen two or three multifamily units for sale here in the past 10 years. The last time I saw a MFH here the asking was somewhere north of $300,000 dollars.
Consider East Mount Airy (very nice and safe for about 90% of the neighborhood...again there is a small not so nice pocket) and the Cedarbrook neighborhoods. Both within minutes of Chestnut Hill and depending on where in buy in East Mount Airy you can still be within walking distance of Germantown Ave.
Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2015 · 101 posts · 28 votes
10y
Mount Airy goes from really nice (but maybe declining) to pretty bad. Chestnut Hill is an amazing neighborhood. The only question is if it will start to decline at some point. The bad parts of North Philadelphia are pushing up and out toward CH in my opinion. It just seems somewhat isolated to me and I don't see a lot of young people moving in there. Does anyone else get that feeling?
Mount Airy goes from really nice (but maybe declining) to pretty bad. Chestnut Hill is an amazing neighborhood. The only question is if it will start to decline at some point. The bad parts of North Philadelphia are pushing up and out toward CH in my opinion. It just seems somewhat isolated to me and I don't see a lot of young people moving in there. Does anyone else get that feeling?
I could be off, but I get the feeling that Philadelphia is steadily improving as a whole. The nicer neighborhoods seem to be extending further and the rougher neighborhoods seem to be improving to me. I don't know much about Mount Airy, but Chestnut Hill is a very nice area and I don't see it going downhill anytime soon. It is very pretty right now, so finding an affordable multifamily property might be difficult.
Mount Airy goes from really nice (but maybe declining) to pretty bad. Chestnut Hill is an amazing neighborhood. The only question is if it will start to decline at some point. The bad parts of North Philadelphia are pushing up and out toward CH in my opinion. It just seems somewhat isolated to me and I don't see a lot of young people moving in there. Does anyone else get that feeling?
I could be off, but I get the feeling that Philadelphia is steadily improving as a whole. The nicer neighborhoods seem to be extending further and the rougher neighborhoods seem to be improving to me. I don't know much about Mount Airy, but Chestnut Hill is a very nice area and I don't see it going downhill anytime soon. It is very pretty right now, so finding an affordable multifamily property might be difficult.
Oops - just realized that I wrote "It is very pretty right now"... I meant to say that Chestnut Hill is very expensive right now so it may be difficult to find an affordable multifamily property.
Mount Airy goes from really nice (but maybe declining) to pretty bad. Chestnut Hill is an amazing neighborhood. The only question is if it will start to decline at some point. The bad parts of North Philadelphia are pushing up and out toward CH in my opinion. It just seems somewhat isolated to me and I don't see a lot of young people moving in there. Does anyone else get that feeling?
I could be off, but I get the feeling that Philadelphia is steadily improving as a whole. The nicer neighborhoods seem to be extending further and the rougher neighborhoods seem to be improving to me. I don't know much about Mount Airy, but Chestnut Hill is a very nice area and I don't see it going downhill anytime soon. It is very pretty right now, so finding an affordable multifamily property might be difficult.
Oops - just realized that I wrote "It is very pretty right now"... I meant to say that Chestnut Hill is very expensive right now so it may be difficult to find an affordable multifamily property.
Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2015 · 11 posts · 1 vote
10y
I own a rental property in East Mt. Airy, and I used to live there. I agree with others who have said that parts of Mt. Airy are not very safe, especially on the east side of Gtown Ave below Mt. Pleasant Ave. The only reason I feel comfortable buying rental houses there is because I'm very familiar with the neighborhood and I know how to identify good (but still affordable) blocks.
If you can afford a multi in West Mt. Airy or Chestnut Hill, that would probably be a very pleasant place to live and you'd probably have an easy time renting it.
However, I myself am not looking to buy in West Mt. Airy or Chestnut Hill any time soon. For me, the properties are too expensive compared to the rents, and it wouldn't be a great ROI. If you're going to live in one unit and rent the other half to defray your homeownership costs, though, that might be a great strategy. Since I don't want to live in either neighborhood right now and I'm only looking for investment properties, I'm steering away from those areas.
Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2015 · 15 posts · 3 votes
10y
@Joshua G. Also you can look at Roxboro and Manayunk in the North West. Both are very desirable areas to live right now Manayunk more so than Roxboro. I think you will find many more multi-family units in these areas than say Chestnut Hill. I live in the area and check for multi families often there are a few in Manayunk, and slightly more in Roxboro. But if you really want a multi family I'd go for Germantown honestly. There are many more multi-family residences and the Western part isn't too bad and La Salle is in the area. Also, many of them need some work so you might be able to get them for discount. Many of the multi-families in the Northeast are very expensive by comparison.
Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2014 · 344 posts · 276 votes
10y
Hello All,
I want to stress that Philadelphia is a major city and like most major cities there will be crime. I think one must define what is meant by 'safe neighborhood'. I am sure this is an individual thing but if you are looking for a neighborhood where tires don't get slashed, where neighbors don't have disagreements, where stores aren't robbed, well good luck. There isn't one neighborhood in this city or any other major city where crime doesn't touch every neighborhood.
I ran a crime report for East and West Mount Airy. I found no homicides, no rapes. There were 9 robberies, 3 aggravates assaults, 9 burglaries and 23 thefts. All crimes were over the East and West sides of Mount Airy between Johnson Ave and E. Mt. Airy/Allens lane.
I highly suggest that you spend some time in these neighborhoods to really understand what is going on there and who lives there. Chestnut Hill/Mount Airy will never see an influx of young people like Center City. It is a very affluent neighborhood and the young (who don't have access to daddy's millions) won't be able to move here for years into their careers...they simply can't afford it. West Mount Airy is very similar to Chestnut Hill. The homes in this area are cheaper than Chestnut Hill but not by much. East Mount Airy is the same, a little cheaper than Chestnut Hill and West but a very solid middle/upper middle class neighborhood. This is an area of stone and brick singles, twins, and some rows. The area has a suburban feel with tree line streets, lawns, and garages. Very little of this area resembles the more concrete jungle feel of the areas closer to Center City.
Collegeville, PA · Member since 2014 · 17 posts · 6 votes
10y
Hello everyone, thank you all for your responses! I appreciate all the thoughts and feedback. I might have to expand my search to Manayunk, Roxborough, and East Mount Airy. I am a little hesitant as to the last one as I intend to live in one unit of the duplex and am bringing my fiancé with me, so a safe area is primary to me right now. But I will expand my search to all these areas and spend some time in them to get a feel for myself.
Again, thanks to everyone for their thoughtful input.
I have properties in Manayunk and Roxborough. I have a triplex and live in one of the units and rent the other two out. I personally like the area a lot for investing and living. If you need any help, let me know. I would be happy to help.
Rental Property Investor · Phila, PA · Member since 2015 · 276 posts · 111 votes
10y
Say that again @Paulette Midgette! Accurate description. I'm a Mount Airy lifer, both west and east sides. Often the other side of stenton in cedarbrook, etc, is often mistaken as east mt airy as it is often promoted as such. Mount airy is only comprised of one zip code: 19119.