New Investor Looking at Duplex, side by sides near Scranton PA

[David M.]

Moving to Columbus GA in a few weeks to start my career as an Army officer. I am between buying a fixer upper in Columbus GA to flip, or buying a property in Scranton to rent and having my brother manage it while I am in GA. Any guidance or thoughts are greatly appreciated as a new investor looking to learn as much as I can so any insights into those two markets would be great as well. Thank you!

[Kyle Kerekes]

I can't speak on GA but I can tell you that the rental market in Scranton is generally strong. During college, a friend and I bought a duplex for student housing. We kept it for 2 years and never had a day of vacancy, and no major disasters. Sold it for a solid premium too! 

I'm now a year into house hacking an up/down duplex in Scranton with my brother, and our upstairs unit was leased within only a few days of listing it. People shy away from buying in Scranton, but the properties are generally strongly-built and very affordable which is nice for cashflow. The entire interior was gutted and remodeled in 2013 and we still only paid $70k for it. Only work we've done was exterior for the most part.

If you're more interested in rentals, Scranton really is a solid market both by my (limited) experience and from what more experienced area investors have told me. Fix/flip is more ideal outside of the city borders.

Hope that helps a little!