All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Matt, southside and shady side are good rental markets but very inflated in terms of price. I think you will find out that most properties in these areas will not cash flow immediately unless you can purchase them at a steep discount and renovate them. Start with these questions:

How much capital do you have to invest?

What type of return are you looking to achieve?

Are you trying to focus on single family rentals or multis?

Are you self managing? You can achieve some good returns in lower income neighborhoods but it will be more management intensive.

Also, if you self manage you may want the property to be within a reasonable proximity of where you live. Driving all over the place can wear on you mentally, physically, and financially.

I would focus on neighborhoods with good access to local amenities and transportation. Just my opinion, hope this helps.

Douglass, Joe, Jeff, and Scott - thank you for the feedback. You have all helped make my decision easier.

@Michael Blank and @Douglass Benson - it looks like both of you have done well doing both flips and buying apartments. I'm sure you learned a lot on those smaller deals that you now take for granted. I'd like to have skin in the game on my first new deals. I think if I'm asking someone to invest $20k in a venture, they'd feel much more comfortable investing if they knew I had $20k on the line too.

J and Ben - thanks for the advice. I think that's a good idea to work through a small project or two and then move on to larger deals.

That makes a lot of sense. I've worked in real estate valuation for the past eight years and bought my first duplex last year. I'm typically analyzing larger multifamily assets at my job and see economies of scale that can be realized with larger properties. My biggest obstacle has been finding and working with good contractors. I think I've gained a ton of experience over the past year with this small rental but wasn't sure how it would transfer to larger properties, especially if a third party management company is overseeing the property.

My long term goal is to build a portfolio of rental properties. I'm thinking about starting to rehab and flip homes to build more capital to invest in apartments. Does it make more sense to find partners and invest apartments immediately or flip homes to build capital and invest on my own starting out?

Kenneth E. - Thanks

Derrick Moore - Thanks. The REIS reports are helpful. I'm not sure about the cost of them though. I receive them through a company I worked for.

Marc,

The multifamily sector in Pittsburgh is strong. Overall, occupancy rates are generally in the 96 to 98 percent range with some new supply in the pipeline. Several new mixed-income (LIHTC/Section 8/market rate) properties have been developed in Pittsburgh’s east end neighborhoods. However, several of these new properties are replacement housing for old Section 8 and public housing developments that have been razed. Pittsburgh’s CBD has also experienced some apartment infill development. Rent growth over the past year has been 3-4 percent for the metro area as a whole and cap rates are in 7-8 percent range for the most part. Several of Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods including Shadyside, South Side, Lawrenceville, and East Liberty are experiencing much stronger rent growth than the metro as a whole. The supply of quality multifamily assets on the market is limited, except in undesirable neighborhoods with high crime and economic decline. Hope this helps.

P.S. I have used REIS reports for market feasibility studies and valuation work I do outside of Pittsburgh and find them very useful.

I joined Bigger Pockets a couple of years ago and have enjoyed the articles and forums ever since. I've been involved in real estate valuation for the past seven years and recently bought my first multifamily property, a small 2-unit just south of the city. If there are any other multifamily investors in the Pittsburgh area, I'd love to connect with you.

Thanks for the heads up Mike. I didn't see that post.