All Forum Posts by: Dan Powers

@Lewis McKnight I'm glad to hear you had such a great experience working with us, and the example you gave is not a one off, it happens every single day. 

@Steve K. Typically flip deals in the Philly market (where I'm located) are selling between 70-75% ARV, and in terms of people putting 10k down, we provide pretty much all the information you'd want to know about a property in order to make the best informed decision possible. Everything is sold as is, without any contingencies, so our investors know what they're getting into before they jump into a property so they're prepared to confidently pull the trigger when the right time comes.

If anyones looking to connect and discuss the Philly market certainly reach out, I'd love to connect

Dan Powers - Real Estate Agent

@Bashar Abudahri Welcome to the community! In terms of the hot and upcoming areas, Point Breeze was the hottest thing around 3-5 years ago, brewerytown more recently in the last 2 years. Cobbs Creek is currently a very up and coming area, due to the multiple exit strategies that pocket allows. 

I would agree with @Mayer M. as well in saying Sharswood is an up and coming area as well because your having development from brewerytown and Francisville. Also I would add Olde Kensington to that list as well. If your able to pick something up in that pocket I would 100% do so, as money is bleeding over from fish town and northern liberties into the area and the average house price is on the rise.

Hope this helped, certainly reach out if you have any question!

Dan Powers - Real Estate Agent

Hey @Matthew Carfaro welcome to the community! I have to agree with many of the points that @Ryan McLaughlin said, while the short term idea for an AirBnb are quite enticing I have heard countless horror stories from the process, not to mention the added stress of it all. Yes, the potential is high, but from what I've seen the return is not worth the headache.

Also, if you are looking in an area in Manayunk I will say finding a duplex to house hack will be difficult. Manayunk as neighborhood is rapidly changing. You have the demand of investors looking to buy rental properties in the area vs. young professionals looking to buy their first home there. This battle is resulting in investors being beat out by people buying these houses to live in, and paying a premium for that opportunity. If you can find something in Manayunk 100% scoop it up, but in the last 6 months I have only seen 1 investment property come across my table, and I move 40-50 deals a month. In reality you're most likely going to be waiting a while till you find the right one for you.

Hope this was helpful, if you have any questions certainly reach out, I'd love to connect.

Dan Powers - Real Estate Agent

@Alice Chau Welcome to the community! Being very familiar with the area I can say that if you have the opportunity to pick something up in the University City pocket I would definitely jump on the opportunity. The rents in the area have a wide spread simply based on what kind of property you are purchasing, whether its a simple 3/1, or a larger 4 or 5/1 three story. Typically the rents in that area for a 1 bed go for 1-1.5k, and 3 beds can range from 1.5-3k.

From my experience the hardest part of finding the inventory in that pocket, it's a very desirable area and people pay high premiums for access to it. If your looking for rentals honestly west Philadelphia is a fantastic pocket due to the low entry price relative to the rent, and well as the multiple exit strategies that the area allows. 

Hope this helped!

Dan Powers - Real Estate Agent

@Amir Burnley The whole purpose of this law being passed not only in PA but other states as well is due to the National Association of Realtors realizing their industry is changing. Realizing the ways of the traditional agent are going to disappear. Being an agent myself I know I have to adapt to the changing times.

There are a million wholesalers in Philly, but only a select group of good ones. Being an agent who does both I know the right and wrong way to go about the process and make the transaction go as smoothly as possible. The entire reason I'm on BP is to offer my knowledge, advice, and expertise to those who are willing to listen. I'd be more then willing to have a separate conversation with you if you want to discuss further.

@Syed H. I completely agree with you. The way of the traditional real estate agent is already dying, you can see that by the decrease in commissions that have slowly been taking place across the nation. The "norm" of 6% is going to become a distant memory, some of my other colleagues across the nation have seen commissions dip as low as 1% in some parts.

In this day and age you have to get creative with your multiple revenue streams and any agent, wholesaling is a great way to make another means of revenue. But, like you said it has to be done ethically. 

@Charles Kao Exactly my point, yes they can create the law but in the end its going to be extremely difficult to regulate, reprimand, and follow through with the consequences of breaking the rules. I think its a good step in the right direction but many more steps are going to be required to make this a good system.

@Bob Stevens You're preaching to the choir man, anyone can wake up and decide they want to be a wholesaler today without any knowledge or the property, the current state of the market, or even real estate in general. I've run into so many out there that won't even have the property under contract, or know what the transfer tax is on a property. There are many uneducated people in an industry where a minute detail can make or break a deal. I hope PA builds on this law to create a more educated and honest real estate industry 

@Simon W. I've noticed in different markets there are vast differences in the amount of trust someone has with anyone involved in the transaction. In the Dallas/Houston, really the Texas market in general, people are overall much more trusting in the transaction. In my experience there is less explaining of the contract, less overall questions during the process, and a less stressful transaction overall.

Compared to the Philly market. I generally have to run through every line in the contract, which I have no problem doing because its my job to make them completely informed about the transaction. But, people are simply less trusting up here.

In terms of including closing costs in the purchase price, they vary for each transaction and aren't generally known till you generate a HUD. Whats including in the closing costs are the transfer tax, title policy, and any additional fees that are including in the transaction. Also the transfer tax is based off the acquisition price for an assignment contract not the sale price.

Dan Powers - Real Estate Agent

@Account Closed Thank you everyone for the discussion, there's a lot of valuable information exchanged here and I agree with most of it. 

I do at the end of the day think the amount of wholesalers are going to decrease dramatically due to this simply law, but those who go through with it and get the license will be back to their normal habits due to the lack of oversight and consequences. It certainly will be interesting to see how this plays out and I will definitely do a follow up post about this some time in the future.

Dan Powers - Real Estate Agent

https://fusion.inquirer.com/ne...

I found this article that states in a few months the traditional "wholesaler" will have to get some sort of wholesaling licensee that will apparently add regulation to the profession. On the other side of things it also states how the majority of these wholesale transactions happen in the shadows and are rarely known the to public. Im curious to see how this regulation will be followed through, who is enforcing this regulation, and just the overall effectiveness of the law.

They say the law is meant to prohibit “knowingly make any substantial misrepresentations, make any false promises, untruthfully advertise, or engage in any conduct which demonstrates bad faith, dishonesty, untrustworthiness, or incompetency.” but I'm struggling to see how this will be enforced if the majority of the transactions happen outside the public eye.

I want to hear everyones thoughts on will this be successful. Are the ways of the modern day wholesaler coming to an end, or will this simply be another bump in the road the wholesaler has to overcome?

Dan Powers - Real Estate Agent