All Forum Posts by: Eric Greenberg

What area

What area of north philly are we talking about? How does your property fit in rent wise with similar comps around? Finding a perfect tenant as far as salary/evictions/history may not come easy or at all in certain areas. To me it seems like you may be looking for a demographic who doesnt rent in that area. 

 Hi Rick,

I would start by looking at what areas have multis (in the size you are looking for) have been sold recently for $300k and under. This will give you a sense of what areas you can even get into. Then see what areas within that search you already have some knowledge about. Look at Zillow/etc for what similar apartments are renting for and see if the numbers make sense in those areas. If they do then search/ask questions about them on specifically on BP and drive them to see if you like the area.

Thanks! I’m going to be listing a small commercial space for rent soon so this will be very helpful Yuriy.

Hi Rick,

Welcome! It would be helpful to give some more details on your goals / criteria for folks to be able to give productive input. 

Hi Owen,

I’m not sure how new the law is but I don’t believe you are legally allowed to use it as a single family rental. A 2-family is legal if

[7] Two-family household living is permitted in the CMX-3 district provided at least 50% of the ground floor frontage contains a non-
residential use, or the lot area is less than 1,440 sq. ft.

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

 Hi Michael,

Congrats on starting. It would be helpful to give more details like what your goals are, price point, etc if you are looking for anything more than random areas in the Philly/Baltimore. 
 
I don’t invest in Baltimore but have enough basic knowledge to believe that it’s similar to Philly where you really need to know the neighborhoods down to each block. I personally wouldn’t invest in either without really understanding the areas or having someone on my team who does intimately.

Id be happy to try and answer any specific questions you have about Philly if you want to DM me. 

I would throw out the water cost and pass that along to the tenants. Most tenants around here are use to paying for water. In my experience it’s easier to do a flat rate vs checking the water bill each month then billing afterwards. Without water that’s $130/mo vs the $230 you’ve been holding. Id also add the ~$60/yr rental license and account for snow removal.

Matters what your goals are, what type of money you are looking to spend, and how large of a multi you are looking for.  I’ve lived in Pittsburgh but I’ve never invested there so I can’t be that helpful.  What I will say and this is said all the time but you really need someone who knows philly.  Neighborhoods even in the same zip code can go from great to not so within a block or two. It really helps to know street by street what areas you want to be in/stay away from. 

I don’t own any properties in point breeze but I usually use 8% for vacancy (ie 1 month a year). This is worst case for me but I like to build that buffer in.

Is operating expense CapEx + maintenance? Have you thought about snow removal, license fees, fire / sprinkler tags/checks?

That insurance could be low, but depends on what the property size is.  

I think your utilities are pretty high. Depending on the setup you can easily get away with whatever lighting needed in the common areas if there are any. Then charge a flat fee for water assuming it isn’t separately metered. 

Is everything you are looking at turn key or are you looking to add value?