All Forum Posts by: Joe Mulcahy

Hi Marc. You look familiar. Were you at the DIG meeting last week? If not DIG is a great resource for contractor, real estate agents, financing etc. I have a property in Walnut Ridge. Ptown is a tough place. High taxes, oil heat and low appreciation. On the plus side house are cheap and rents to price ratio is high. The north end is the nicest and I was looking at a few places there. But never pulled the trigger.

Hi Arturo.I am an investor just starting out. I have a few properties in Delaware county and one in Pottsgrove near Pottstown. They are all single family. As far as Pottstown is concern it can be a tough city.High taxes, lots of homes with oil heat (which can be tough on tenants) and low property values. On the other hand you can get cheap properties and the 2% rule (purchase price to rent ratio) can be achieved. Norristown is the same although they have a lot of gas heat homes (which attracts tenants) and taxes are cheaper. Also Norristown has septa which can draw renter too. Norristown does have its tough areas as well. Reading is like Pottstown but has low taxes but also lower rents. I would suggest getting a realtor and look a lot of properties to get a feel for what is out there. Go on Craigslist and see what places are renting and go see a few apartments. Also go to some real estate meetups and connect with other investors. I belong to DIG (diversified investor Group).They have monthly meeting and have speaker and talk about real estate.There is one new week in Phoenixville next week.The fist meeting is free.You can find out on meetup.com or go to DIGonline.org.

Thanks,

Joe Mulcahy

Cool Thanks Dave! Yes the condo is one my wife and her sister inherited. i have a few rental properties here in PA i mange myself.  My wife and i are good with self managing the property but the sister is a little nervous. I would love to chat with you about cleaner and possible a handyman if you have one. i will send you a colleague request. 

Thanks Joe

I have a vacation rental in St petersburg FL. Looking to get rid of my property management. No getting enough rental months to cover my expenses and the fees are high (20%). It is a condo 2 beds 2 baths. Anyone have any good property mangers in St Petersburg?  Anyone use VBRO and do it yourself?  Also if i rent it out myself through VBRO, any recommendations for good cleaning crew and handy man?  any insight or recommendations are appreciated! 

Thanks Joe Mulcahy 

 Diversified Real Estate Investor Group or DIG for short is a very active RE club.Their monthly meeting is in the third week of the month in Horsham PA. They have hundreds of investors at the main meeting and at least 10 or so subgroups you can attend. The membership is 125/year (the first meeting you attend is free).  This is well worth the ton of information and networking you receive. Check them out at digonline.org or got to meetup.com.

Their website is www.tenantscreeningbackgroundcheck.com

I bought through paypal and it seems there is nowhere to enter information.  Hoping it is not a fraud.

Has anyone used this service?

Thanks.

Sherry Mulcahy

Gas is always the better choice. Maybe expensive to convert but worth it in the long run. Tennants like gas becuase it is way cheaper then oil and electric.  Then if you convert, you can meter each unit seperatly if you install 2 seperate gas units.  If not it will be way cheaper for you to pay the bill.  As far as the AC left the tennant get a window unit. 

Hi Shawn.I understand about the management of your rentals. I have 2 in Delco one in Clifton Heights and 1 in Drexel Hill. I also have one in Pottstown. I just started renting the one in Clifton and so far so good. As far as management companies, go on craigslist in the cities you want to buy and rent houses and check out the adds the management company put up. Call a few and check them out. I do eventually plan on getting a management company when I get a few more places but I want to do it myself first to know when I am getting good service. The key to getting good tenants is the screening. Anyway a good book I read on real estate investing is Joe Neilson "the real estate professor baby"he has all his ~ 26 properties in Delco.Does not have an LLC owns them all in his own name. He relies on a 5 mill insurance policy to stave off lawsuits.He is also a DIG member.I heard him speak at a meeting and I have got his book and it is small and an easy read with good advice.

Check out DIG at DIGonline.org

lots of threads on ABC in BP. i suggest you seach the site. i never had any experience with them. I would try things on your own first. Can be alot of fun and nerve racking at the same time. i have a few rental properties i purchased. i figure the worst outcome is i would have to sell at a small loss. But havent had to yet. Check rents on rentometer and get a cheap property you can fix up. Join some RE groups and get some advice. I am a DIG member and for 125  bucks a year i get some great advice and help. Lots of REA groups too.