4 bed home in South Kensington Philadelphia

4 bed home in South Kensington Philadelphia

Investor · New York, NY · Member since 2017 · 14 posts · 3 votes

Investment Info:

Single Family buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $295,000
Cash invested: $65,000

Single family house with a parking lot zoned for another single family home in South Kensington, Philadelphia around Norris Square.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

The major appeal was the parking lot next door that's zoned to build another house. This is a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood so I thought I might build on the lot one day. This was my first deal ever.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

MLS

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional mortgage

How did you add value to the deal?

I painted the entire house and laid out new roof. Made some minor fixes.

What was the outcome?

Within 1 year, another 4 bed slightly bigger than my house on the same street was listed for 150K more. I expect it to sell at about 100K more.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

The hardest thing was pulling the trigger. I was searching for a good deal for over a year but in retrospect that was not very wise because since the area was rapidly appreciating, prices rose more and more while I was searching.

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  • Nicholas L.Pro Member
    Flipper/Rehabber · Pittsburgh · Member since 2018 · 6k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    6y

    Hi @Jae Hee Hwang - congrats on your first purchase.  Are you going to live in this property or will you rent it out right away?

  • Investor · New York, NY · Member since 2017 · 14 posts · 3 votes
    6y

    @Nicholas Leach I rented it out last year! For slightly below market price. $1795

  • Philadelphia · Member since 2018 · 29 posts · 3 votes
    6y

    Congrats @Jae Hee Hwang! I bought my first property a few blocks north of yours and I'm seeing more and more rehabbed comps and more new construction, so it's a great area to invest in.

    Just curious, how is your cash flow with the amount of rent you're charging?

  • Investor · New York, NY · Member since 2017 · 14 posts · 3 votes
    6y

    @Thomas Caridi hey fellow investor in the area :) I am charging 1795 rent although I was told I can charge at least 1900. I like to charge lower than market rate so that I can be more picky with tenants. I only paid 20% down as investment property (higher interest) so I got 5.25% rate, paying $1600 monthly mortgage. So I am not really making money on the house itself but I got a free lot that goes for around $90K that I plan to build on (as I gain more experience. What about you?

  • Philadelphia · Member since 2018 · 29 posts · 3 votes
    6y

    @Jae Hee Hwang Yeah that additional lot definitely makes it a great deal! Lots of potential there. To give you some perspective on rents in the area, my girlfriend lived right in front of Norris Square on Hancock St in a 2 BR/2 bath apartment with a roommate until August of last year and they paid $1800/month, so for a large 4BR home nearby you could probably be charging at least $2k+.

    I bought a 1600 sq ft 3 BR/2 bath fixer upper in May of last year and did (edit: still doing) a full renovation. It's my primary residence at the moment. I paid $134k with a low down payment conventional mortgage and got a 2nd mortgage through a credit union for $60k for the renovation. It's about 85% complete, we just need to finish the first floor full bath and 3rd bedroom, put in a new privacy fence, and hopefully add central AC in the spring. Our plan is to do a cash-out refinance when there's a solid pool of comps sold in the area and use that money towards a multi-family or a SFH that we can Airbnb.

  • Investor · New York, NY · Member since 2017 · 14 posts · 3 votes
    6y

    @Thomas Caridi oh wow! It’s so impressive that your first deal is a rehab deal! I think you will do very well there, and refinancing would open more capital for you. Props to you! How did you find a contractor to do the work as a first time investor?

  • Philadelphia · Member since 2018 · 29 posts · 3 votes
    6y

    @Jae Hee Hwang My friend's brother is a contractor so I've been working with him. There are obvious pros and cons to this scenario though. The main pro is he's doing a 1600 sq ft renovation for $60k which isn't bad, but he has a full time job so he's only able to work on my house an evening or two during the week and weekends. It's also a bit more difficult to have those tough conversations when he makes mistakes or is taking too long to finish something.

    Either way, it's been a great learning experience that'll help me make more informed decisions on the next one.

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