All Forum Posts by: Eric Greenberg

Amy,

It matters what your goals are. I certainly think there are ways to make Temple student housing work well, but I would make sure you have a strong understanding of the fundamentals in that niche. The area is tough as outside of the school its more of a C/D area. 

There are plenty of great options not far from Temple that still have large up sides IMO. 

Personal opinion: Id be very weary of investing in student rentals by Temple unless you really know what you are doing. I live a mile or so away but dont invest in them so only know what I hear from other investors. My take away has been lots of new units that came online recently, much higher vacancies, most new units are higher end with en-suites making older units sit vacant or take drastic rent drops. 

Id be happy to connect you with a few folks I know who have units at Temple or my RE agent who has bought/sold many properties for investors at Temple. Id also suggest searching/asking on our Facebook group Philadelphia Landlords Connect

Not every investor is on the same path or the same point of their journey. Just because some folks trade time for money doesn't mean everyone else has to. Most newer investors I speak with need every dollar that comes in. No shame in that at all. 

I see what you are trying to say, but not sure I agree with the analogy.  To get a mortgage most/all lenders ask for a professional to perform a title check and appraisal.  Yes you can learn this skill but at the end of the day you still need to pay a third party to perform this act in order to get a mortgage. I understand this all can be waived for offmarket cash deals, but thats not where most beginners start.  


To me its more like learning basic car maintenance (how to change the oil, brakes, etc).  Is it a great skill to have, yes. Is it something thats 100% necessary, no.  But it could help in the future to not over pay a car mechanic or if you end up in a bind to help solve or at-least diagnose the problem at hand.

I believe there are a lot of net benefits for self managing if one has the time. At a minimum one really learns to respect how much work goes into onboarding / dealing with tenants and can help ask relevant questions when choosing a PM. 
 

Id recommend physically going to both cities and driving/walking through all the areas you may be interested in. Its one thing to look at proximity to restaurants/ transit/crime maps/etc, its another to actually be in an area and see how much you enjoy it. 

Definitely doable. Id first start with figuring out what areas you would want to live in first, then figure the numbers out after. Id steer you away from choosing a property based on investing metrics alone when buying your first house hack in Philly as that could lead you to some C/D areas. Then utilize local folks who know the area well like @Alan Asriants

First question I would have is do you need the money from this sale for another property, travel, life event, etc? If you do not and would like to keep the property I think it could be a great appreciation play in Manayunk especially at that mortgage rate. How much total do you have in the property right now? And you think it will need another $35k roughly? 

Id be intrigued to see the break down of ‘Operating expense estimate’ rather than the lump sum. Not a huge delta but id also assume 1 out of 12 months (8.3%) vacancy rate rather than 10%.

Happy to talk in more details if you like via DM.

I agree with Kevin. I usually tell folks to manage their first couple themselves so they can really understand the local laws and what goes into each aspect, but being new, out of state, and investing in a city that has no tolerance for missing one piece of paperwork if you end up in court, Id tell you to instead spend your time finding a great management company in Philadelphia. Just be careful as many are here are boarderline terrible.  

I agree w Alan, ‘West Philly’ is a really broad term that could be A or D type areas. Areas close to the universities ie University City, can be a great play if thats the type of tenant you are looking for, but there are areas close to the University that are still on the come up.

More or less a long way to say that you have to really understand what your goals are and how much time/money you are looking to deploy. Having folks local who really know this area will be key as its really easy to get sold a property that may not fit your goals. 

Id also recommend once you really know your target area/property type to drive down from LI and see it for yourself and meet the folks on your team in person to make sure its exactly what you are looking for. 

Also make sue you fully understand the new mechanicals you may need to install and their price tags (sprinklers/Fire monitoring /etc)

Welcome! If you have Philly specific questions don’t hesitate to reach out.