All Forum Posts by: Joe P.

Ozzie...newsflash...most states with the highest appreciation and influx of citizens is probably not going to be "landlord-friendly". And I anticipate more states will move towards more tenant rights as those stories will pull at the heartstrings of local and state lawmakers.

This is where ensuring your ducks are in a row are important, as is screening your tenants -- regardless of locale. Good landlords and good tenants make for the best situations, regardless of how the laws tilt.

Everyone has different risk tolerance. Your tolerance is, indeed, yours.

I don't mind carrying the debt of a mortgage if someone else is paying it off; in the same breath, the only person paying off my primary mortgage is me. That's the level I'm comfortable with, even though others will say I'm crazy for carrying debt I have to pay. I have a wife to keep happy, too. :)

You can use equity responsibly, and you should. Equity sitting around that you don't intend to cash out on can be used as a tool for purchases which provide more equity. That can be through refinancing or HELOC options. BRRRR is fantastic because you can HELOC your primary, to buy an investment, and then cash-out refinance your investment to pay back the HELOC and start all over again.

@Kunal Mishra makes a great point on the taxes...my duplex in Gloucester City is about 4400 a year, and apparently, that's on the low end. Also make sure you check FEMA flood maps which can add additional insurance requirements (if underwriting to a mortgage).

Respectfully disagree with my friend @George W. as the C-class areas in South Jersey -- Gloucester City, Brooklawn, Westville, and Camden...all appear to have good cash flow values and reasonable purchase prices. The proximity to Philly is not something to scoff at, especially if the neighborhoods continue to rise in value. It's a long term play to have a city like Gloucester or Camden be considered what Brooklyn or Queens is to Manhattan, but every major city experiencing an influx of dollars sees their close neighborhoods also experience that influx. Boston, San Francisco, Austin, Denver, et al...

Just because folks can work REMOTELY doesn't mean and doesn't correlate to people MOVING.

If you work for a tech company in the Valley, for example, and they pay you commensurate with experience and in-line with your local costs, and you like where you live, why would you move? You would work remotely from where you are.

Some people may move, for sure, but moving is not a small feat. I couldn't put a number on the percentage of what it might be, but I'd be surprised if its anything higher than 10%.

I've been able to work remotely (thankfully!) for the past 6 years. Guess where I've done it...in the place I've called home for 10 years. I'm not moving. I have roots here, my wife has family nearby, and we are mostly satisfied with our neighborhood.

I think this is a GOOD thing for investors. High demand areas will continue to be high demand and homeowners/renters will seek to make their homes even more important aspects of their lives. It is incumbent upon us as investors, landlords, property managers, et al, to continue to provide quality housing for these folks.

Hi Anthony...first, you say what the government is doing is "wrong" -- what's wrong about it? The government has a requirement to keep the masses safe. What will keep the masses safe? Making sure thousands of people do not become instantly homeless, and the associated socioeconomic fallout of such. Mind you, its only temporary. The government knows that real estate investors are a piece of the puzzle, just like everyone else. That's why they've established an EIDL loan, and there are also SBA loans available for those that qualify. If your tenants cannot pay rent because of the coronavirus, and you want to evict, and there were no restrictions/courts were running -- what do you think would happen in court? Even the most landlord-friendly judge is likely to invoke extenuating circumstances given the pandemic, and at the very least, require a plan in place to make you whole while not significantly hindering someone that lost their income source and putting them out on the street.

Some tenants will take advantage of this, as is human nature. But it's no different than landlords trying to do the same. That's the same story from both sides, day-after-day. Human nature applies to us all, and some humans deal with nature differently. 

"You created assets and established wealth" -- ok, perhaps. But chances are your wealth was established with government backed loans that you appreciated at the time, and when the government tries to back another citizen (that may directly or indirectly affect you), all of the sudden, its overreach, its subsidizing, it's infringing upon your so-called rights, et al...well that's just a bunch of nonsense. Some folks may not be as "financially savvy" as investors, but is that a reason to PENALIZE them in a situation that is completely beyond their control? Do they not pay their taxes just like you and I, sometimes to a higher percentage BECAUSE they are not financially savvy?

No one asked you or required you to drain your assets. A lot of folks, thanks to technology, have been able to keep their jobs and work remotely, or are essential and need to work and are being paid as such. And in cases where you have good tenants who fell on unexpected and really, unprecedented being the key word, hard times...I hope you're working with them.

The ONLY thing gub'ment has done is say we're going to put a moratorium on evictions. Landlords -- here's your recourse, either/or EIDL or SBA loans (a lot of them are just grants...free f'n money...you can use since you're so "financially savvy" as to overlook them). It's really amazing how all these brilliant people at the first sign of trouble have wallowed in their tears on situations that haven't even come up yet AND, if they did, have recourse (thanks to the same government trying to watch all citizens) to mitigate the financial constraints we are all under.

So, Anthony, check your facts. Yes, the government is telling people they can't be put out on their arse in a really difficult time. But they're also offering you, the investor, multiple avenues to mitigate the costs of such. And that's not even scratching the surface of how you can interact with your lenders to find out the deferral plans which no doubt exist, while you draw upon your reserves (financially savvy, remember?) to cover yourself in this financially and socially difficult time.

For a country that spends a lot of time telling people to "pick themselves up by the bootstraps" -- it seems like a lot of folks I considered to be "financially savvy" are now suffocating themselves with the same ones. Business is RISK. Maybe we don't anticipate this kind of risk, but we're ALL HERE. Figure it out, do you research (literally took me 10 seconds to google "landlord loans for coronavirus") and find out about how in the CARES act, the same government you think is overreaching took the time to consider your needs an investor, but you're too busy on some straw pedestal to even bother to LOOK. Unreal.

When I find myself writing out different responses and deleting them, and doing this over and over again, I end up just not responding. Because you won't like the truth, but here it is in a nutshell.

Jesus, the whining nature of some people. You operate a business with 96% of your income still coming in, while restaurants, bars, other small businesses would beg and plead for 20% of it. Count your blessings dude.

The Venn diagram of people complaining about wearing a mask AND complaining that the government is infringing on their rights as landlord is a mothertruckin' circle. You want this over? Wear a mask. Lower the spread. The disease doesn't care if you fly a Trump or Biden flag.

And finally, you live in a free country that you pay taxes to, has laws you must abide by, has norms we generally all adhere to, and your fellow citizen will call you out if needed (sometimes incorrectly). The government, thanks to a pandemic, will have to treat the care of the masses. What's best for us all, unfortunately -- and quite temporarily -- is not best for you. Tough cookies. You are only as free as the country lets you be, and generally, you're pretty free. Extraneous issues will affect the governments ability to continue to let you be free. You cry about the "world changing" - its changing all the time, dude. There's 7 billion people on the planet, someone's going to muck something up.

And finally..."When New Orleans flooded, the Government declared whole areas off limits, and some trespassers into those areas were rumored to have been shot dead on sight." Yeah, no, that didn't happen. Can you imagine the field day if the GOVERNMENT (backed by local police and federal agents) would SHOOT PEOPLE DEAD ON SITE, IN A MOSTLY AFRICAN-AMERICAN AREA, and what would happen? Just, some of the things people say...its outrageous to me.

A lot to take in here, man. Here's the deal...figure out your actual price range because there is a massive difference between 250 and 375k.

At your price point, you have to sacrifice something. Most Philly-proper homes have no yard or a small concrete jungle. Want parking? Need to move to a low-pop area where you're missing the hustle and the bustle. Want safety? Move to Jersey or adopt the get-the-&%(^-out-of-my-way look at that personally, at 5'4", I've had to adopt for a platitude of reasons.

I think you'll need to decide if you truly want an investment property, or a I'm-young-in-my-20s-and-looking-for-a-vibrant-neighborhood property. 300k can buy you a duplex in South Philly, likely shoddily done, 2 blocks from Broad. Nice and close to Broad Street Line and a brisk 15-30 minute walk to Center City, and a 10 minute walk to Passyunk Bars/Restaurants. Unless you're in a tough neighborhood, though, you won't hit a 4 on your income scale. Maybe you can rent out an updated 2 bedroom for 1500ish, and each neighborhood is different, but it won't cover all your expenses -- that's OK. You're already ahead of the game is someone is taking care of 50-75% of your home expenses (I wish someone was doing that for me!)

Also, RE: the girlfriend. Is she your partner? Is she part of the financial stake in what you're doing? Is it love everlasting? If the answers to these are NO, then buy for YOU. Based on your list you're twisting yourself to make her happy as part of this, and if you're not going to put a ring on it and she's not going to slap bills on the table for this, then make your moves and she can decide if she wants to be a part of it.

Finally, I can give some neighborhood advice but any smart investor or agent here will tell you it is BLOCK by BLOCK and that's the absolute truth. I'm in the Whitman/Pennsport area and if you go 2 blocks to the west, its a tough neighborhood. But my block? Really nice. Quiet. No parking. Neighbors are mostly cool. We're talking the difference of 1000 feet between my block and the next bad block...that's Philly. But, what I would do, if you can...Airbnb different neighborhoods and come visit. Decide what neighborhoods you like and don't like, and then you can check inventory to see if it meets your criterion.

Primarily healthcare companies, which based upon current events, I think will see both a funding boost in major areas, along with legislation that is friendly to attract and maintain those businesses.

One thing I am concerned with -- keeping in mind this is not a political view, just an observation, is our taxes and what-is-being-taxed continues a steep upward climb. So I believe it will be up to the city to determine how best to keep everyone in check and continue to grow necessary infrastructure, but Philly does have some bad history there, unfortunately. While I appreciate the progressive nature of the city from a social aspect, it ultimately seems to hit long-time and middle/lower-class residents in their pocket, first.

But, that being said, the proximity to everything from Philly is really awesome. An hour to the beach (AC Expressway), an hour and a half to the mountains, trains/planes/automobilies to NYC, Baltimore, and DC. I think the airport has improved dramatically and if they dredge the Delaware, which I'd like to see assuming it doesn't cause other issues, there could be an opportunity for cruise ships to sail from Philly as well.

I've got to put in a vote on the Philly area. I think we're a few years away, but we've seen the "certain neighborhood explosion" that begets massive influx of jobs, a la what happened in Boston with Biotech.

Philly is already well known for its Healthcare contingent, plus the Universities that can funnel those prospects to those organizations. We have an upgraded (albeit still low capacity compared to a Newark or O'Hare) airport, and decent infrastructure. Taxes are still moderately lower than our neighbors to the North (NY) and East (NJ).