All Forum Posts by: Joseph Scorese

Diversified Investors Group/HAPCO - Philly Riverwards Sub Group

Location: 2424 Studios, 2424 East York Street, Philadelphia, PA 19125 Suite 238 (Conference Room)

Date: September 16th, 2015 – 6:30PM-8:30PM

Speaker: David Blumenfeld Esq., President – Cross Properties

David's real estate development career spans over 25 years and includes both new constructions and renovation projects for residential, retail, office, and mixed-use. His experience includes apartments, condominiums, independent senior living communities, student housing, mixed-use projects, office, and lifestyle properties. David has acquired and/or developed 4 million sq ft across all asset classes representing over $500 million in transactions and management that includes a Real Estate Equity Fund which he conceived.

Subject:

The Benefits of Federal Historic Tax Credits

One way old, expensive, yet interesting buildings are saved from demolition and preserved is through the Federal Historic Tax Credits program.

We will discuss the Significance: Federal Historic Tax Credit program is one of the indispensible foundations of historic preservation. Since 1976, the program has leveraged nearly $100 billion in private investment to preserve 38,000 historic buildings nationwide. Every year in Philadelphia alone, an average of over $224 million in private investment and nearly 1,000 jobs are created by rehabilitation projects dependent on the federal tax credit program, whose costs are significantly less than the tax revenue it generates. The program is widely considered to be the largest and most successful community revitalization program in the country.

Where is the Threat: With our nation’s fiscal crisis demanding a reassessment of current tax policy, the historic tax credit is certain to come under the scrutiny of lawmakers in the coming months. Some members of Congress have already proposed its complete elimination, despite the fact that the program generates far more income than it expends. The shortsightedness of eliminating these credits will only be prevented by a strong show of support among community leaders, developers, preservationists and elected officials.

What are the Recommendations: Historic tax credits should be strengthened, not abandoned. In an effort to reaffirm and expand the effectiveness of historic tax credits.

FHA 203k Rehab Loan: Advantages and Disadvantages for You

An FHA 203k rehab loan is a great loan program that many people use to fix up houses. With a 203k loan, you get access to a government-backed loan program to get the money you need. There are many aspects involved in the FHA 203k loan program and they have advantages and disadvantages associated with them. Here are a few things that you should consider before getting involved in a 203k rehab loan.

Advantages

Savings: The 203k rehab loan allows you to hang on to your savings when fixing up a broken-down house. Repairs on a house can be very expensive. If you rely on your savings to get you through, you could run out of money quickly. What is worse, you might not be able to resell the house and then your savings are depleted. With a 203k loan plan you can borrow the money from someone else and still repair the house.

Great deals: Rehab loans are designed for "fixer-uppers." Therefore, this loan will allow you to qualify for a home purchase that many other programs would not. You can get a house at a lower price than you normally would be able to on the open market.

Disadvantages

Long process: The closing process for this type of loan takes a little longer than the average loan. In most cases, you can expect to wait up to 45 days for the loan to go through. If something falls through and you are not approved, you have just wasted a lot of time.

Binding contracts: When you do a 203k loan for over $35,000, you have to come up with a plan for rehabbing the property. This involves having a contractor do the work for you and submitting a bid to the bank. If you get started and do not like the contractor, you are stuck with them for the remainder of the rehab process. Once you get everything set in stone, it is very difficult to undo the process.

Listing agent confusion: One of the big problems with this program is that many listing agents do not fully understand it. Therefore, it may be difficult to get an offer accepted. If you can't get an offer accepted you can't make any money. This is a major turn off for those interested in this type of program.

Competition: In many areas, there is a great deal of competition for foreclosed houses and bank-owned properties. Dealing with this program will usually involve several bids from different investors. Therefore, it can negate some of your profit potential.

Philadelphia Average Rent – Real Estate Investor Alert!

Number of flipped homes is up, but inventory is low still going into the 4th Quarter, how does this help the Landlord?

In the first quarter of 2015, 820 single-family homes and condos were flipped in Philadelphia, an increase of 25 percent from a year ago. By comparison, there were 891 flips — defined as any property sold for the second time within a 12-month period – 40% of these properties became turn-key rentals for landlords.

All-cash buyers purchased 5,220 single-family homes and condos representing 41 percent of all sales in the Philadelphia metro area during the first quarter

A challenging part for the amount of time and work it takes to assemble a decent-sized portfolio of rentals in Philadelphia that didn’t suffer the massive downturn that California, Nevada, Arizona and Florida had experienced.

As of May 2015, average apartment rent within 10 miles of Philadelphia, PA is $1443.

One bedroom apartments in Philadelphia rent for $1197 a month on average and two bedroom apartment rents average $1483.

The average apartment rent over the prior 6 months in Philadelphia has increased by $155 (12%)

One bedroom units have increased by $146 (13.9%) and two bedroom apartments have increased by $159 (12%)

The most expensive Philadelphia neighborhoods to rent apartments are Riverfront, Fishtown, and City Center East

The cheapest Philadelphia neighborhood’s to rent apartments are Harrowgate, Logan-Fern Rock, and Tioga-Nicetown

Despite the challenge of finding inventory, the opportunity in the investment rental market remains strong.

The most important trend remains a demand for well-located houses, which are professionally managed.

Network Your Way into Work- Laws of Networking

"What 'clusters' are you in? What clusters do you want to be in? Which of your friends or acquaintances is a connector?"

Networking is not a mystery. Most importantly, understanding how it works makes expanding your power team that much more fun.

Five Interaction Modes, there are five modes of human interaction:

•To steal

•To beg

•To deal

•To like

•To love

Balance can only exist at the levels of Deal, like, and Love. Therefore lasting connections, repeated interactions over time, sustainable networks, can only occur when based on deals, liking each other, or loving each other.

Here are the seven most important laws to remember when networking:

•The law of the small world

•The law of the first mover advantage

•The law of the fit getting rich

•The law of the strength of weak ties

•The law of the risk of referencing

•The law of the crisp question

•The law of the paradox of profit

1. The law of the small world

There are only six degrees of separation between you and anybody else.

2. The law of the first mover advantage

Start building your network early, As soon as you can.

3. The fit ones will get rich

Fit people do get rich. If you are fit and good at making connections, you may even overcome the first mover advantage. And if you are not fit, you might want to get into training (remember the five modes of human interaction: Steal - Beg - Deal - Like - Love!).

4. The strength of weak ties

A study of 300 professional, technical, or managerial workers that 56% of people got their job through personal contacts and 83% of these personal contacts were a vague friend, an acquaintance, someone they did not know well.

5. The risk of referencing

Luckily we have the Law of the Strength of Weak Ties. Referencing vague acquaintances is less risky than referencing people that you are very fond of.

6. The benefit of a crisp question

What you need to send out across your network, through the weak ties, reaching for hubs, is a crisp question.

The question should be short, very memorable, and it almost invariably invokes a need for further explanation. It is a beautiful crisp question. Not for me, but we know it works for them.

7. The paradox of profit

Networking is simple. There are only five modes of human interaction and only three of them work for you. Deal, like, love - There are seven laws that govern networking.

But you can forget all of that. You can forget all but the seventh law: the paradox of profit. You have to give in order to get. Not giving beer means not drinking beer. Treat others as you want to be treated. So steal and be stolen from. Beg and be begged from. Give and get. Love and be loved.

In networking you simply give without expecting to get back. Give with pleasure, and the world will give back. In networking world, this makes you fitter, and as we have seen, the fit get rich. Remember balance though. Give respectfully. To the receiver - To yourself. Big gifts usually involve difficulties.

Giving yourself away is not respectful to you.

Givers get. That is the paradox of profit.

Diversified Investors Group - Philadelphia Breakfast Sub Group

Friday, August 28, 2015

8:00 AM to 9:30 AM

Mugshot Diner, 2424 E York Street, Philadelphia, PA

www.digonline.org

B2B Networking in Philadelphia Every Friday Morning!

NETWORK, NETWORK & MORE NETWORKING! CREATE ADDITIONAL POWER TEAM MEMBERS TO YOUR REFERRAL TEAM!

Come out and join the Diversified Investors Group - Philadelphia Breakfast Sub Group in Philadelphia. The meetings are designed to help all types of area business professionals meet other professionals to exchange information and warm leads to assist in growing their businesses.

Refinancing Your Mortgage: When It Makes Sense

Important considerations for when refinancing is a good financial move.

Refinancing your mortgage can offer a way to take advantage of low interest rates -- or, if your mortgage payments have become oppressive, an escape from adjusting rates, increased payments, or reduced income. With property values falling and companies tightening their belts or even laying off employees, there's no better time to make sure your mortgage meets your current budget and long-term needs.

What Is Refinancing?
When you refinance, you get a new mortgage to replace your existing mortgage. Because you're getting a brand new loan, you usually have to pay title insurance and escrow fees, lender fees, points (optional), appraisal fees, credit reporting fees, and any amounts needed to bring your insurance and tax obligations up to date.

Why Refinance?
Homeowners refinance for many different reasons, but here are some of the common ones.
Refinancing can save money by lowering your interest rate. If the interest rate on your current mortgage is higher than the current market rate, you'll pay less by refinancing.

Who Can Refinance?
If you have sufficient equity, you can refinance. A new lender will consider the same factors your original lender did: your income, debt-to-income ratio (how much of your monthly income is spent paying off debts other than the mortgage), your home's value, how much equity you have in your home, and your credit score.

Refinancing is much harder than it once was, for a few reasons. Some borrowers have difficulty refinancing because they have insufficient equity, mostly because the value of their property has not returned to an amount that exceeds what they owe on the mortgage. And lenders have become surprisingly strict about how much they'll lend, usually requiring refinancing homeowners to have at least 5-10% equity in the home.

Another problem is that lenders have made "stated income" loans all but unavailable. With stated income loans, borrowers didn't have to provide independent verification of their income. Instead, the amount they could borrow was based on the income they claimed to have (hence their nickname, "liar loans"). These were intended for people who had a hard time verifying income, such as the self-employed. But in recent years, borrowers used stated income loans to artificially inflate their income to qualify for bigger mortgages. Unless their income or equity have increased substantially, borrowers currently holding this type of loan will have a hard time qualifying for more traditional refinance mortgages for similar amounts.

Financial Freedom through Ca$ hflow!

Saturday, August 29, 2015

6:30 PM to 8:30 PM

2424 Studios 2424 E. York Street, Philadelphia, PA – Suite 238 (Conference Room)

Financial Freedom through Ca$ hflow!

How do you like your cash flow - as a trickle or a stream? Join us for a special Cashflow 101 Game on Saturday, August 29th from 6:30 - 9:00 PM.

If you want to earn more passive streams of income by buying and selling real estate or if you want to TRANSFORM your real estate business by advancing from single family residential to multi-family commercial properties, learn investment strategies by playing Cashflow 101 and make 2015 your most successful year in real estate!

Bring your friends, partners, associates or anyone who wants FINANCIAL FREEDOM as a real estate investor!

Diversified Investors Group - South Philadelphia Subgroup

Monday, August 24, 2015

6:30 PM to 8:30 PM

Famous Dave's  1936 South Christopher Columbus Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA

www.digonline.org

Diversified Investors Group – South Philadelphia Sub Group6:30-8:30 PM Famous Dave’s BBQ - 1936 South Christopher Columbus Boulevard Philadelphia, PA 4th Monday of the Month 6:30 - 8:30 PM

Speaker: Carmen Accardo Real Estate Appraiser and owner of CVA Consulting Corporation Providing Real Estate Appraisal Solutions in the Greater Philadelphia Real Estate Market We will be discussing “As Proposed” Appraisal Valuations – New Construction & Renovation Loans Coming up with the Right after Repair Value for proper Financing

Diversified Investors Group - Philly Riverwards Sub Group

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

6:30 PM to 8:30 PM

2424 Studios

2424 E. York Street, Philadelphia, PA

www.digonline.org

3rd Wednesday of the Month 6:30 - 8:30 PM

Diversified Investors Group– Philly Riverwards Real Estate Networking Group

Crowdfunding For Your Next Project - A Real Possibility

Speaker: David Postolski, Esq. Gearhart Law

Bio: David Postolski is a registered patent attorney and Intellectual Property attorney at Gearhart Law. With over 15 years’ experience, David specializes in assisting inventors, creators, artists, start-ups, entrepreneurs, early stage companies and emerging companies with their U.S and International intellectual property strategy, protection, enforcement and monetization.

David remains very involved in the creation of New York State’s first federally approved patent pro bono program in conjunction with Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts. David is a frequent speaker and author on intellectual property issues surrounding raising capital, business formation, licensing, and reward and equity based crowd funding.

David is also a Professor at Parsons School of Design where he teaches master level students about IP, ethics and other regulatory considerations in starting business ventures and products around design. David is the current vice chair of the Professional Issues Division of the ABA Section of Intellectual Property law as well as a member of the CLE Board, Membership Board, founder of the International Action Group and the Sponsorship Committee.