All Forum Posts by: Adam Guiffrida

This duplex is in the heart of University of Scranton student housing. It is across the street from the University's new freshman dorm. Great symmetrical property with 5 bedrooms on each side. Parking lot in rear for off-street parking. About three years ago both baseboard hot water boilers were replaced. In addition, coin operated washers and dryers installed in the basement. Currently leased from June 1, 2018 to May 31st, 2019 for $4925 monthly. Also leased for June 1st, 2019 to May 31st 2020 for $5,500. Landlord pays all utilities. 

Why buy four properties to pull in the same rent as one house. Take care of one property for the same amount of rent as four others!

Message me for more details, I will send you a link for all documents on a DropBox Folder

Ali, wanted to say first of all that "I Thank you for your service!"

I am very familiar with the Scranton area. My advice would be to stay away from single family homes. If you get a bad tenant or a vacancy you will be floating the expenses every month. I am a big proponent of 2-4 units. duplexes are nice because they are still considered residential so getting repairs or improvements done is easy. Usually you should be in the $750-$1000 range per side for 3-4 bedrooms. And the other good thing is that utilities are usually separate which tenants will pay.

I also like 3-4 units because you are almost always cash flowing even if 1-2 units are vacant. The two issues are permits for contracting work. The City requires General Contractors for all buildings over 2 units. This is a head ache. The other issue is utilities, if you get stuck paying a bunch of utilities, than that could get costly.

Be sure to confirm with the city the unit count before you buy. and Also make sure the unit is not condemned. 

I am usually local so please call me if you are serious about a property and I will meet you and walk through. I have a large network of professionals in the area so I could help with almost anything. 

Tenants are pretty plentiful in Scranton, the City's distresses state has designated it as a huge rental population.

Feel free to message me for a phone number.

And good luck with everything!

Hey guys, wanted to see if anyone had any good contacts for lenders at local community banks in South West Florida. Currently about to purchase my first Florida Investment property. Just put it under contract. At the moment, I have a rental portfolio around 180 units in the Northeast Pennsylvania market. With 16 years of experience, I feel most comfortable in banking relationships with community banks. Although this is my first Florida purchase, my goal is to purchase about another 4-8 condos in the 2019, year. Preferable terms would be 25-30 year amortization, 20% down payment, and 5/1 ARM. This condo will be titled in an LLC. My credit and financials are strong. Thanks for the help!

@Thomas C Veatch, I have to say I’m impressed. Everything you just stated is pretty exact. It’s a headache of a process but once you do it a few times you will be very successful. This process turns many people away from SCRANTON but there is a great value in buying these condemned homes once you have learned the process.

As for a rental agent, they do not have to be licensed. Just designate a handyman or leasing agent. They just want someone to contact nearby.

Good luck, it looks like you are on your way to some nice success.

@Thomas C Veatch, Congrats on the new purchase. As for commercial, @Teresa Ludlow is correct. According to the UCC (Uniform Construction Code), 3 units and up is considered commercial. Scranton has adopted the UCC code several years ago. So if you are renovating anything more than two units, you will need a General Contractor license. This is tough to get. In addition, UCC codes are a lot more stringent than the simple 1-2 family IRC codes. Also when buying in Scranton, be careful with zoning. Any property that has been condemned or vacant for more than 6 months will have lost its zoning and reverts back to original zoning classification. Scranton is a great market and there is money to be made, but unfortunately the rules impose many obstacles to work around.

@Ceasar Rosas, Hey buddy I am sorry I am a little late to the party. Just looked at your deal sheet. To be honest I agree with @Ron Parasole.  The deal is moderate at best at $600 per month for each side. If you have 3 bedroom units and the renovation is decent, you should be upwards of $800 per month for each side. At that point it is much more attractive. As Ron stated, with a duplex, if you lose one tenant for a month or longer you will be out of your pocket to float the building. And you should always count on a few evictions before the building is truly stabilized. 

Seems like you have some liquidity. So if that is the case, you might want to step up to a 3-4 unit. Money from banks is cheap. Spend more on the property which will generate more income. Your expenses will only go up slightly to borrow 20 year money. If you are liquid enough, buy in cash, renovate in cash, rent the property and cash out with a local bank. Then you can pull out a little extra. This will keep you rolling quick.

I'm not too familiar with WB but Scranton is a solid rental market with good rents as @Chris K. was saying. But he political environment is a disaster. If you jump in here, do your due diligence. Check with city records to make sure properties are not condemned and are registered for the amount of units you are suggesting it is. Good luck my friend!

I recommend Pica HVAC or call Andy Butsko. Both are reasonably priced

Matthew, I'm experienced with the Scranton market. I feel that the law is "Landlord" Friendly because evictions are pretty quick and the judges usually do not put up with non-sense. Scranton's municipal rules are not very "Landlord" friendly. There are rental license fees and high building permit fees. Lastly, licensing with contractors is difficult.

But I am involved with two class action lawsuits regarding rental registration fees and garbage fees and those should be coming to an end in early 2019, so you will see some changes. At the moment I am working on the class action for building and licensing fees. That will be about two years out before those fees are adjusted.

Good luck

Incredible job! $1000 Budget for a bathroom renovation is top notch!

Hey Rich, I know three guys in the game. You can try Marc Winter, Phil Kolatis, and Ron Parasole. They are all well know. And I know them personally