All Forum Posts by: Kevin M.

Temple is a very tough area to rent right now. Available rental inventory far exceeds demand.

 It’s a perfect storm of recently constructed high rise apartments and fewer students on campus due to COVID. I’ve had to slash prices on my larger units in the area and there’s no sign of imminent recovery. Properties that used to easily rent for $3k/mo won’t even get any showings at $2,200

@Marlia Stone congrats on the purchase. I see you're getting a lot of response from people all around the country. This is great- but Philly is a unique market and things don't really work the same around here.

I'm a full-time property manager in Philly and I've been doing it for years. Virtually no one uses realtors to lease rentals. It's just not really a market in Philly. For a few reasons I can get into- I think this is your worst course of action.

People have also mentioned Facebook Marketplace for advertising. I've sifted through thousands of leads and I will say Facebook tends to bring in the lowest quality leads in Philadelphia of all major marketing sites (Zillow/Trulia/Hotpads/Apts.com)

I am a big proponent of self-managing 1 unit if you're local and willing to put in the time to learn the process. There are a few great free tools to list your property that will syndicate to most major listing sites (avail.co). They also offer tenant screening services. Zillow lists your first property for free. 

Search on BiggerPockets for Philadelphia lease requirements. There are a good amount of legal requirements unique to Philly you'll have to include in your lease agreement. 

Taking the time to learn these things, get a feel for screening, understand the move-in process, handle maintenance, etc. will give you a good grasp of the logistics behind management. This will help you down the road when you want to expand your operation and bring in a professional management company. 

Best of luck DM me with any Philly-specific management questions. 

I am a property manager and we deal with a handful of Section 8 properties. The numbers may look fine but they don't paint the whole picture.

The organization is very difficult to deal with. They are strict about holding property owners accountable but not tenants. They are not responsive through email, hostile toward property owners, and simply inept. 

The rent money is not 'guaranteed'. In fact our S8 rent is less reliable than our market properties. If a tenant doesn't permit entry for the inspector- they withhold rent. If PHA finds unreported income for your tenant- they withhold rent. If you properly terminate a lease at the end of the term but the tenant simply stays- the program stops paying rent.

Like most of these laws (screening 'protections', bedbugs, lead testing, etc) I think the intentions are good- but the end result will be the opposite of what they're trying to achieve. 

Higher cost/risk requires higher return for investors. So you'll either see 

1) higher rents to compensate investment, 

2) renting on the 'black market' to avoid regulatory cost, or 

3) the investment capital will simply go to more investor-friendly areas. 

When money goes elsewhere, rehab and maintenance can't happen. When rehab and maintenance can't happen, you have even further degradation of the most vulnerable communities in Philly. 

But at least it makes for a nice press release for Council...

You need an adult over 18 who resides within the city limits must to be designated by the owner/ operator on the rental license. This person will be responsible to forward notices, orders, or summonses to the owner. They don't have to do much else besides receive and forward notices. As long as the out-of-town owner conducts frequent business in Philadelphia he/she can do all of the management activities. 

I’m just not sure how it will work practically. How will you ensure regulatory compliance? How will you list the property and conduct showings? How will you properly oversee maintenance? How will you handle emergencies? 

I am actually a big fan of self-management for a few units but only if you’re local. I can’t imagine self-managing a difficult market like Philly remotely. 

@Dylan Katz I'm a property manager in Philly so I deal with plenty of investors and have some more intricate tax issues myself. I use Mark Edler as my CPA. He is a RE investor himself and local to Philly. Send me a message I'm happy to put you in touch. 

@Marc Possoff the ratio of tenant payment:PHA payment depends on the tenant's income and whatever they are approved for with their voucher. So it will vary by the tenant. I have some tenants paying almost 90% of the rent on their own and some tenants paying <$20/month. 

I've had a very difficult time with PHA properties recently. Inspections are difficult and their administrative response is glacial. I'm curious if any other owners or managers have noticed a decline in the program specifically over the last year or so...

@Jimmy O'Connor great post from someone who really knows Philly SFH real estate. You'd be the first to come to mind to put together something like this.

Only improvement would be a highlighted color-coded map to visualize...

Is it a legal triplex? Rental license says 3 units? Don’t forget to build in cost of fire alarm monitoring and trash removal (triplex requirements) which would total ~$1000 annually 

I deal with situations like this often in Philly. The lawyer who gave you a 6-8 month timeline- is he/she an eviction attorney? I don't see how you can hit this timeline in the current climate. To evict in Philly for non-payment right now you have to;

EHPA Notice

File for Phase IV Assistance

Eviction Diversion Program

File for Eviction

Receive Court Date

Win in Court

Writ of Possession

Alias Writ

Lockout 

No one has evicted a tenant in Philadelphia for non-payment of rent for over 15 months (to my knowledge) but someone is telling you 6 months is realistic? This is assuming you have a valid rental license and all administrative paperwork in order. 

From someone with 'boots on the ground' I think things are more difficult than most are letting on when it comes to legally removing non-paying tenants...