All Forum Posts by: Prashant P.

The other question is your rent in line with the market?  Did you specify the rent that you want or did the PM specify the market rent.  

If you specified a high rent, the PM will have a difficult time renting the unit.

You will also need money for a home inspection, usually they are around $300 to $500. Also, you will need to buy insurance.  If the home is in a flood area that will be separate insurance.

Hi William,

Here are my couple tips. I am sure more people will comment.  First you should include some vacancy rate in your monthly calculation.  I use 10%.  This is a reserve to hold you over when the property is unoccupied.  Second, you repair costs seem very low.  Unless you are doing the work yourself, a new furnace will cost $3,000 and the flooring will be about $800 if you use carpeting.  Additionally I would figure another $300 to get the place up to rental condition.  Meaning paint, replace door locks, any items to get the place up to code.  I would recommend getting the property inspected.  Lastly, I wouldn't use the Zestimate. As you will read on many forums, it is not very accurate.  Instead, use Redfin to look at comparable homes sold in a half mile radius of yours.

Good luck.

I currently using a hard money lender to flip a house in Philadelphia.

You will need to know the numbers on the house before calling a hard money lender.

Do you know how much the house will appraise for after the renovations, the cost of the renovations and timeframe?

Most hard money lenders will give you 60% to 80% ARV depending on the area and your experience. They will lend all of the renovation costs and a portion of the purchase

In my case I got 65% ARV. So on a $65k house i had to bring about $20k at closing.

Finding a perfect tenant is going to be hard.  That is someone that meets all your criteria.

Depending on your area people are going to have credit issues and criminal records.

From my experience, I always interview people and ask them upfront if they have any issues.  If they are honest and far in the past I usually work with them.  I still run their background, credit and references.  

If they lie, cannot provide documentation or are hard to get a hold of, I usually pass.

You need to setup your own criteria and stick to it.  For me, my system has worked for the last 7 years with no evictions or horrible tenants.

I know a lot of people from NYC that invest in the Philadelphia and Trenton area.  It is close enough to get to and you will get a lot more for your money,

You should look at your local codes.  Just adding windows to the basement may not be sufficient.  It may need a separate entrance.

You may also want to look at other homes in the neighborhood.  Are they mostly singles or multifamily?

Try Greg Bustamante at Bustamante Engieering.  Very professional, knowledgeable and easy to work with.  His office is great and they can answer all your questions.  I have worked with him on two projects. They are located in Doylestown.

http://www.bustamanteengineers.com

To add to other comments how long ago were the collections? I also ask potential tenants ahead of time if there will be any problems on their credit. If they are honest then I give them some leeway. If they are not honest, it's a NO.

I would recommend getting a couple of different bids. Each remediation company will give you a slightly different method of dealing with the mold. You will also find you can negotiate with these companies. That has been my experience.