All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@CJ Berina That sounds like a great option if you think it will fit 50+ people (assuming people from the Santa Monica and the South LA groups also participate). Do you mind us having food or something for the Holiday gathering? 

Thank you all for your responses. Brandon and I enjoyed our visit to the city and learned a LOT by driving the neighborhoods. We've seen a higher vacancy ratio in the West Philly area which makes us a little concerned as well as the condition of some of the neighborhoods in West/Southwest Philly but we spoke to a cop who said that the areas are cleaning up. 

Good morning BiggerPockets, 

My boyfriend and I are based out of Los Angeles, CA and after purchasing our duplex, we decided to invest out of state to increase our cash-flowing opportunities. We've done a bit of research and decided to pull the trigger and visit Philadelphia. We're flying there tonight and will be touring a few properties and driving neighborhoods tomorrow & Sunday. I have a few questions for Philly Investors and locals:

1. What neighborhoods do you recommend for RE Investing? We found that there is a lot of development occurring in North Philly and those prices are increasing to reflect the demand of that area. I'm interested in areas near the Universities but I've heard to weary of the west side. What are your thoughts?

2. Do you have any recommendations for local community banks and lenders? 

3. Do you have any recommendations for property managers? 

4. Do you have any recommendations for RE agents that work with investors? 

5. What is the best Philly Cheese Steak spot for us to try while we're there? 

Thank you in advance for your responses! We're excited to get this ball rolling! 

@CJ Berina Awesome! Congrats on the San Fernando Group! We just had our 2nd South LA meeting last week. 

I dont know who does the Simi Valley group - the Santa Monica coordinator is Jeff Greenberg (I may have misspelled his last name). 

Do you think a joint meetup in early December would be good? Maybe like at a restaurant or somewhere where people can have a good time?  

If they're going to have problems with the initial rent increase, does that mean they'll also have a problem with the rent going forward? If you really like these tenants then maybe consider their request but Whatever you do, document everything and also consider consulting an RE lawyer.

My reply to Soh, I agree. Unless regulations recently changed within the last year or so, lenders were not supposed to select their own appraisers or have direct contact with them due to conflict of interest issues. We had to go through an independent individual to hire an appraisal and she also had to contact the appraiser for any questions about their appraisal. Let us know if the rules have changed. Best of luck!

@CJ Berinaundefined Yes the South LA BP group! What about you? I can ask the guy who coordinates the Santa Monica group if he can help coordinate too.

Yay! See you tomorrow @Michael Glaser

@CJ Berinaundefined Thanks! Maybe around the holidays we should coordinate a get together with Santa Monica, Valley, and South LA participants so we can all meet each other and network =] 

@Alex J. you're absolutely right! The home was currently being rented for Section 8 housing (and it sold within a couple months of us looking at it - for good reason!) But there are a lot of hidden gems in the south LA neighborhoods.