All Forum Posts by: Eric Greenberg

You’ve been in a Philadelphia court before and had the judge side with a tenant in a similar situation?

This happens quite often in Philadelphia when folks need to get lead inspections/maintenance/meters replaced/etc, as folks know how the system works. Even if the law states that a landlord must give tenants 24 hours notice before entering the property except in emergencies, does not mean your PM or most hired workers will barge into a house that someone isn’t letting them have access to and/or being problematic. 

Resources that may be helpful:
https://www.phila.gov/media/20...

https://www.phila.gov/media/20...

Quote from @Pat Hamilton:

I own a property in Philadelphia which is managed by a professional management company.  My tenant had not been paying rent for months due to maintenance issues.  The property management company says that the tenant always reschedules maintenance requests and implies that the tenant is just avoiding paying rent.  They recommended starting the eviction process, which I did.  Apparently the tenant called the city of Philadelphia and I now have a ton of violations to resolve.  They property management company is very slow in responding to me and the clock is ticking.  It appears there are hefty fines for not resolving the issues within 30 days.  30 days is quickly approaching and I don't know what to do.  I call my property management company frequently and they keep saying "we are in the process of sending a vendor out"....Even getting an estimate for the repairs is like pulling teeth.  I'm disappointed in my tenant and the property management company.  Should I call the city inspector directly and request an extension?  How are these things handled in practice?  Some of the violations are simple fixes.    I have very little experience, but as the owner I am ultimately responsible for the cost....no one else seems to care!!!!!!

 Hi Pat,

Sorry you are having to deal with that. If it were me and I wasnt local Id reach out to L&I via phone to discuss the situation, it may or may not help and it may be infuriating but call in the morning and they usually will call you back later that day. Wost case they say no right? Id also reach out to local handymen to have ut fixed myself. Hard to know what exactly what to do without knowing the issues at hand but happy to talk in more detail via DM if youd like. 

Hi Ying,

I would agree with above. If your goal is to eventually do a househack I wouldnt start with a syndication. I think there are still deals on the MLS in Philly that would work well as a househack. Off market isnt a magic bullet and honestly could get you in more trouble buying through the many shaddy wholesalers that are around here.

I would learn up as much as you can and start visiting areas on NJ/Philly that you may be intrigued with and start running numbers on whats sold in the last 3months and whats for sale right now. Happy to talk in more detail via DM if youd like. 

I would agree with whats said above but Id personally start with talking to local folks to get your core team. IMO a mentor is helpful once you know where you are going and need to get to the next step. I could be 100% off but it sounds like you need a solid RE agent/lender/contractor that can give you inputs on areas and on specific properties as you find them. If thats the case Id be happy to DM you folks I utilize and local FB groups where you can research and see what issues pop up regularly around here.  


Again not saying Philly is drastically different than other areas, but we have a number of things that can easily trip up a first time investor in the area that I see happen quite often. 

I think thats a little over dramatic but to each their own. I believe the goal is to have a point of contact very close by incase there are issues as there are many absentee landlords in Philly.  We all know the city isn't technologically advanced enough to implement utilizing distance so Im sure they just opted to use Philadelphia as the geographical region since thats very easy. 

That said my understanding is you need to provide someone who lives in or works in Philadelphia as a contact. That person just needs to understand their role if they sign up for it. I believe a few PM companies are charging a small amount (couple hundred for the year) to act as that person. If thats the route you go I would pass that along to the tenants and explain why the increase. 

Hi Karl,

What type of rehab/quality/size are you looking to accomplish? 

I have a few guesses of where this is in the city… If you want to talk in more detail don’t hesitate to DM me. 

Quote from @Amanda Gordon:

Hi there 👋

First time poster, long time listener looking for a gut check on my strategy. My goals with real estate are to 1) make my money work harder than it would for me than if it were invested in the market, and to 2) diversify across multiple properties rather than saddling myself with a very large mortgage. I like my 9-5 and have a good income, I'm a strong saver with minimal overhead and I'm a hard worker and have time and capacity to learn. In 5 years I'd love to have a portfolio of real estate that's flowing enough cash that I could work part time or choose my consulting work. I'm open to taking risks but I'm more comfortable playing the long game and I'm experienced at working in systems and managing teams.

Goal: Build cashflow (& equity) 

Strategy: Long term multi-family rentals in emerging markets), 
Budget: For my first property I'd like to stay under $150K

Markets: I'm looking into Philly, PA Cleveland, OH, Ft Wayne, IN
Plan: I'm reading multi-family millions, joined my real estate investor group, and planning on taking the BP multi-family bootcamp. I think my next steps are to 

My questions: 

1) How would you choose markets? I think out of state will be more affordable (I'm based in Seattle).
2) Does my strategy match my goals? Are there other strategies I should consider?
3) How do you know when you're ready? I've been considering doing this for years and can see myself getting caught in analysis paralysis. Would love advice on how to know when to make a move / get over first buyer jitters.
4) What am I not thinking about that I should? 

Thank you so much in advance 🙂

Amanda

Id start by understanding exactly how much cash flow you want in 5 years then work backwards. 

Then have a rough idea of how you will fund these acquisitions to make sure the plan makes sense. 

For your first property staying under $150k, is that the purchase price or the max cash you’d like to have into the property? Are you looking for turnkey or properties that need a rehab? 

I can speak to Philly that there are many areas with cheap properties that have great cashflow (in theory) and are within a couple streets of a ‘nice’ area that I wouldn’t tell anyone from out of state to invest in without a great deal of knowledge. Happy to talk in more detail via DM

Hi Kevin,

Happy to connect you to the RE agent I utilize who invests in commercial & residential units themselves. 

Hi Mathieu,

What areas of Philadelphia are you looking at for this multi?