House Hacking in Philadelphia

[John Whitridge]

Hi Bigger Pockets, 

I am looking to start my Real Estate Investing career by purchasing a Multi-family building in the Philadelphia area but all of the properties I have looked into are either out of my price range or are not cash flowing enough to justify the purchase price.  Is this a sign that this is not a good time to buy and I should wait until prices drop or am I looking in the wrong places for deals?

If anyone is in the greater Philadelphia and has experience House Hacking I would love to go to lunch and discuss options on how to begin Real Estate Investing.

Thanks, 

John Whitridge 

[Richard Jahnle]

@John Whitridge I recently started investing and used the same plan that you have. I bought a duplex in Philadelphia in Oct. 2016, fixed it up, moved into one half, and am renting out the other. I bought off of the MLS at close to market value. I agree with you that when looking at cash flow, the numbers don't really make a ton of sense in the Philadelphia area (unless you can get a property under contract for a heavy discount - which is tough for a beginner). But I still think it's a great way to get started even if it's not an amazing deal. You get experience going through the purchasing process, working with agents/lenders/contractors/tenants, and can start to build the rest of your team. And even though I don't think I found a slam dunk deal, my monthly expenses are less than if I was renting a property.

Good luck with the first deal, if you have any questions about your next step, feel free to reach out.