All Forum Posts by: Rich O'Neill

@Jimmy O'Connor time for an update! Please be sure to post a link to the new one from here when you get around to it!

@Sam Matyas it wouldn't be a blanket statement how much values have changed as it would be neighborhood by neighborhood. I think the rest of the data here is really valuable still if you consider an incremental increase. I haven't seen any monumental shifts in the change in trends talked about here. 

Hi Nina,

I'll save you the trouble and introduce myself now! We do renovations projects in Delco all the time, I also own a large portfolio in Delaware County. Would love to connect and see how we can help on your flip. I'll send you a DM.

@Nabil Amin it depends on current condition/usage. In my opinion if it’s currently occupied then don’t touch it until it causes problems, which I would be prepared for financially, as it likely will at some point. When the current tenant moves out (or if it’s currently vacant), I would strongly consider having it replaced at that point. Obviously the best time to do it would be during a remodel, but that’s not always an option. 

Happy to discuss more if you’d like! 

 Thanks @Eric Greenberg! @Nick Webb feel free to send me a message. We only work with investors and are investors ourselves. A large percentage of my personal deals have been done with hard money and most of our clients use hard money. In fact, @Jimmy Lynn can help you shop for the best hard money loans and get it all set up.

Ultimately, like @Eliott Elias said, every contractor will say they are investor friendly. Do your own due diligence to understand what they mean by that. 

Granted, this is somewhat dated information, but my buddy @Jimmy O'Connor did an extensive write up about 2 years ago of some of the details of the neighborhoods in Philly. Ignore the prices but the other info is excellent, as it hasn't changed dramatically in the last few years (Prices have...). 

https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

Like others have said, Philly is very block by block and can cause you a lot of problems if you don't understand that. 

I also get concerned when I see very low rehab budgets. I find that the "clean" houses are often the ones with the most problems. Unless it's a new build you are probably dealing with a 1920's-1940's build, all of which had knob and tube wiring and cast iron plumbing. Chances are this was never upgraded. Your maintenance costs in these buildings will be significantly higher, and could even ruin the deal. You are also likely to deal with more competition on that deal, which will lead to higher purchase price since most buyers don't know what they are looking at. 

I played in that space for a long time and it bit me more times than I'd like to admit. I now prefer to do either a full gut rehab, or close to it. Of course the scary part of these is getting the right contractors to do the work, which is a whole other topic. 

If you'd like to catch up more on this, please feel free to reach out! 

@Jason Wilson I love your desire to help your dad out here. 

The advice above is all sound. Do you have specific concerns about the structure? If not, I would say you might be ok to hold off on the structural engineer as that can get very costly. A good home inspector should be able to look for issues and if they find any, the engineer could help identify the extent. 

Like @Jussi Lundstedt said, if there are no specific concerns and the inspector doesn't highlight anything, a good GC should be able to put it all together for you no problem. 

The best trick I have working with contractors is to look for specificity and attention to detail in their quotes. If they come in and quote "Bathroom Remodel - $5,000" or "Kitchen Remodel - $10,000", that doesn't give you any information to make decisions. Either ask for way more specificity, or run away. We have taken over too many projects from clients that didn't do this and ended up firing their contractor because they constantly said "that's not in my scope" and tried to give them a change order for something that should have been included. 

Good luck!  

@Jimmy Lynn may have some thoughts on the financing. 

As for the rehab, I agree with @Eric Greenberg this is a very heavy lift and depending on the area it may require things like a sprinkler system, alarm system, ADA accessibility, high voltage power, and several other things that can easily blow up a budget. At face value I would worry that the cost of the project vs the ARV and purchase price would not justify taking it on.

I would love to hear more specifics and see if there is a way I can get involved. This is exactly the type of project I have been looking for. 

@Frank Nelson happy to help if we can, but we only work with investors and are not registered with Fannie. Happy to discuss even if we can't do the work for you. 

@Eric Lowe welcome! I am from Philly and work with a lot of OOS investors. Happy to connect if it's helpful! 

Check out @Jimmy Lynn he is your guy! I'm also local to Philly and happy to help if I can.