All Forum Posts by: Kathleen Messing

Hi nick. Sold that one I had mentioned. They have fresh local legislation for a student housing overlay district so now ONLY properties that are in that tiny zone can become student rentals. A few registered rental units outside the zone got grandfathered in. That overlay district is dominated by a few big players and isn’t worth the bureaucracy. Look elsewhere in the Lehigh valley, in my opinion.

Abel juhasz is good, he can do it all and is very responsive and fairly priced (484) 554-3010

I stick with one agent. They're with Remax and have been doing it a long time. For some deals I swear our offer gets picked because of the relationships they have with the other agents. I have never been asked to sign an exclusive buyer agency agreement

The rents have risen enough that the Lehigh Valley can still make sense unless your expectations are unrealistic. I just try to cash flow $300-400 per door on SFH in good school districts. It was my criteria 4 years ago and is still my criteria today, buying off the MLS. Sometimes that means BRRRR and sometimes it's just buying move-in ready and only painting. I don't really care as long as the cash flow is there and it is a house/neighborhood I would be willing to live in myself. The numbers are solid but not super sexy like they would have been downtown 4 years ago... but just let appreciation and debt paydown do the rest. Like someone else said, the rents end up being higher than expected by the time they're ready to list. I do whatever renovations are needed to get good tenants, then screen aggressively. I almost never hear from my tenants, so I like to think of my rentals as more of a lifestyle business...lol. I would say the #1 trick to snagging your first deal is to use an agent with a good reputation locally. And one that can help you take a thorough enough look at the property that you feel comfortable dropping the inspections. The other agents want to work with agents they trust, so when there's 10 offers who your agent is can be critical to you ending up in the final batch. Anyway, things are slowing down a little from what I've been seeing as rates go up, and a lot of people have given up, so now might be your chance. Happy to chat further privately if you want

@Damian Shoff do you self manage or have a PM? If you have a PM, who do you use and do you like them?

Any update on this? Did any of you end up buying in Tamaqua? Was just there today poking around (I live in the Lehigh Valley) and it seemed to me to be bustling, lively, and growing. The city’s Christmas lights and decorations (and photos with Santa in the downtown gazebo tonight) made me think there is something real going on there. Seemed to be a fine place to live, with charming remnants of coal-era pride and a young workforce everywhere we went. Curious about anyone’s experience investing there thus far.

KD and sons heating and cooling. Very affordable and small/family-owned. Jacob J Strawn for plumbing. A guy and his son, trustworthy and entertaining. Message me what other types of contractors you need. 

Curious to know whether there are any tax implications of quitclaim deed-ing a property (owned outright) that is owned in your personal name to your own, single-member LLC? And if you were to do it, what do you list the sale price as on the deed?

Pretty typical to get maintenance issues brought to your attention at the beginning of any lease, especially if this is the first time the house has been lived in since a renovation or if it’s the first time the house has ever been rented. Always some oddities that you can’t foresee unless you’ve lived in or spent a few nights in the place. Don’t worry about it, you’ll likely get a nice blissful period of no contact once they settle in. It’s also an early chance to show that they have a landlord who cares, which may dictate how they treat the place for the duration of their lease. It’s the long game!

Regarding the price, all I will say is that every time I try to find a better deal on something like this I always regret it. Overcomplicating things or being excessively involved in the situation from afar (when that is what you’ve hired the property manager to do) always makes me wish I had just paid the quoted price on the front end. 

This is a fascinating question. I hope someone with experience in this chimes in with some insight. Always looking for creative ways to lower that DTI. I wonder if they would see right through it.