Rental Property Investor · Mountain Top, PA · Member since 2016 · 36 posts · 22 votes
Hey everyone, Mindy was kind enough to create a local forum for the Wilkes Barre Scranton area. This was it will be easier for us to post and see what on the local level people are hopefully working together to help everyone in the area!
Realtor · Hanover Twp, PA · Member since 2018 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
8y
@Amy Engelhard, congrats on your deal in NEPA. I live only a couple miles from Dunmore.
It looks you intend to take on quite a project to bring the house up to par and to maximize the rent. Have you done projects like this remotely before?
One suggestion, when I do large electrical upgrades I will have an electrician to the actual electrical work, but I won't have him repair all the walls and ceilings he has to cut holes in. I will have a handyman do that or do it myself. Why pay a skilled handyman his labor rate to do wall patches when you can hire a semi-skilled handyman at a MUCH lower rate to do it.
Also, I would get involved (or have someone onsite) involved in reviewing the wiring plan. Sometimes the bid you get is needlessly complicated or might involve excessive holes to be opened in walls which adds to the total cost.
Disclaimer: While I’m an attorney licensed to practice in PA, I’m not your attorney. What I wrote above does not create an attorney/client relationship between us. I wrote the above for informational purposes. Do not rely on it for legal advice. Always consult with your attorney before you rely on the above information.
Rental Property Investor · Mountain Top, PA · Member since 2016 · 36 posts · 22 votes
8y
If you would be so kind as to help me spread the word with you contacts around NEPA so people are aware and will start using it we could grow the forum into a great resource for people of the area.
Rental Property Investor · Mountain Top, PA · Member since 2016 · 36 posts · 22 votes
8y
@ Amy Engelhard Congratulations tell me about it units? cash flow? What factors did you use in determining your decision to buy? Always love to hear other peoples stories!
Investor · Kingston, PA · Member since 2015 · 22 posts · 9 votes
8y
This is very exciting. The NEPA market has some very unique opportunities if you are careful in analyzing your properties. The only thing that would make this market better would be lower RE taxes. @Amy Engelhard congrats on your first multi! @Christopher Madden did you get in touch with Mindy for us to get the forum? If so, thank you! We still need to meet sometime soon.
The property is in Dunmore. Purchased off the MLS for $125,500.
3 units stacked on top of each other with identical floor plans: 3 bed / 1 bath 1300 sq ft each.
Built ~1930
Current rents are $575 +$100 (garage) , $625, & $625. ( this is very LOW ) But I'm stuck with them until March 2019.
Taxes ~$2200 / yr
Insurance: $98 / mo
Tenants pay Electric, Owner pays all others - gas (steam) heat, water, sewer, landscaping, snow removal
I can easily raise these to 800+ in their current condition. Even higher if I want to sink some capital into some kitchen upgrades.
I'll be using property management and they'll take 10% per month + 100% of the first month for getting a new tenant. This seems to be pretty standard for the area.
The bad: The home inspection found evidence of knob & tube wiring, and there is basically 1 outlet per room with tenants running power strips and extension cords all over the place. It's not good. I got a $14,000 bid to fix it all and add some outlets which was handy in negotiating a lower price with the seller. The windows are all the originals, so they will need to be replaced eventually. I assume my heat bills in the winter will be outrageous until they are replaced.
I don't expect a profit in the first 2 years based on the amount of cap expenses (electrical & windows being the biggest). Once I can get the property stabilized and raise rents to market rate my calculations put me at ~$600+ /month in cash flow accounting for vacancy, cap ex, repairs, ect.
ALL THAT BEING SAID... We did NOT close yesterday! There was a mistake in the write up of the loan docs.. the loan needs to go back to underwriting... OMG! So we are at about 50 days under contract and I don't have an update from the bank yet on when they'll be ready.
Realtor · Hanover Twp, PA · Member since 2018 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
8y
@Amy Engelhard, congrats on your deal in NEPA. I live only a couple miles from Dunmore.
It looks you intend to take on quite a project to bring the house up to par and to maximize the rent. Have you done projects like this remotely before?
One suggestion, when I do large electrical upgrades I will have an electrician to the actual electrical work, but I won't have him repair all the walls and ceilings he has to cut holes in. I will have a handyman do that or do it myself. Why pay a skilled handyman his labor rate to do wall patches when you can hire a semi-skilled handyman at a MUCH lower rate to do it.
Also, I would get involved (or have someone onsite) involved in reviewing the wiring plan. Sometimes the bid you get is needlessly complicated or might involve excessive holes to be opened in walls which adds to the total cost.
Investor · Kingston, PA · Member since 2015 · 22 posts · 9 votes
7y
I would consult a real estate attorney. I have heard there are several good ones in the area. One of them being @Chris K. I have never used him, but we have the same circle of influence. If you plan on trying to figure it out yourself, you should be able to get a copy from the township websites.
Northeast Pennsylvania · Member since 2018 · 7 posts · 1 vote
7y
Hi there. Very glad to be here in this forum. My husband and I just started our wholesaling business and we look forward to networking and working with everyone. Does anyone know of a good wholesale / investor friendly title company in the Scranton area? Also, if anyone would like to join my buyer list., I would be happy to take your contact info. Thank you very much for your feedback. Appreciate it.
Investor · Dunmore, PA · Member since 2014 · 3 posts · 1 vote
7y
That's great news! QQ for you; how do I actually find the local forum? I see the tab up the top, but not sure how to specifically find one for Scranton / NEPA
Northeast Pennsylvania · Member since 2018 · 7 posts · 1 vote
7y
Christopher Eboli I just follow the forum by selecting the button at top and I also selected saved it so it comes up in my profile. You can also do a general search for forums with scranton, wilkes barre, or nepa.
Hey everyone I'm interested in investing in Scranton but I just need a little bit of information. Can anyone tell me anything about Providence Scranton? I'm a little familiar with the Hyde Park area but I was wondering if Providence is similar. Also where can I find more information about landlord ordinances in Scranton I hear they're a bit stricter than Wilkes Barre. Thanks in advance
Northeast Pennsylvania · Member since 2018 · 7 posts · 1 vote
6y
Hi Denise George. You can try this link for more info about ordinances https://ecode360.com/11606535. Providence is not a bad area depending upon where you are looking. The nicest area is Greenridge. Hope this helps.
Hey everyone, I have some connections to the Scranton and Wilkes Barre area and I would like to look into 2-4 unit investment properties. I would potentially house hack and live in one of these units part-time. I was wondering if there are any investment property realtors that would like to connect over the phone. Thank you!
Investor · Wilkes-Barre, PA · Member since 2014 · 179 posts · 42 votes
6y
@Christopher Madden I’ve see a 3% tick up in delinquency. I can’t say for certain it is COVID related, but that’s what my numbers are saying. Not a huge number, so not sure it is statistically significant enough beyond normal monthly fluctuations. How about you?
Rental Property Investor · Mountain Top, PA · Member since 2016 · 36 posts · 22 votes
6y
@Kevin D. I have experienced no change from covid, several other investors I know locally have seen a slight delinquency but so far so good. Which bodes well as we move forward. As far as the markets go, things are moving quickly due to the backlog of buyers but my data suggests that supply will slowly start to creep upward as we get out of the summer and into the fall and hopefully as supply increases prices will deflate from the over inflated numbers we have been seeing over the last years or so.