All Forum Posts by: Rex Petersen

 Too true!  Many of us joke that our first deal cost twice and much and took twice as long as our initial estimate!  But I'd still do it again, my first one still turned out a good investment and learned a lot along the way.  Good luck Jeffrey, and let us know how it looks when you see it today!

Without knowing details of the house, condition, and location -- $950 in Pittsburgh is not surprising to me at all, lots of places rent for well over that and there are some big ranges based on quality.   Lots of 100 year old houses, some run down that need lots of work, lots of average stuff, and many with only 1 bathroom since that was typical when they were built.  Many people are tired of sharing a bathroom with their whole family and eager to get a place with a 2nd bathroom so even that alone can bump up rent in Pittsburgh by several hundred dollars.    Any place for 49K is likely one that needs some work, or is very small, or some distance from downtown.   Lots of average places here meet the "1% rule", and I look for things closer to "1.5%".   If you can get a place for 50K and rent near 1000 that would be 2% which is not unheard of in Pittsburgh, but hard to find.

 Many people moving for a short term don't want the hassle of moving they own stuff around too much, so they might appreciate it is furnished.

I did virtual staging, just posted 3 days ago and the response so far has been great!  20 people contacted us in the first 3 days, 4 showings scheduled, great quality candidates.  I posted both the staged photos and the empty room ones as well.  I like the idea of showing the staging options while in the room as we did a few versions of some rooms like showing a bedroom setup or home-office setup for the same room but only posted one of them online.  Zillow link to my Virtual Staged listing

I just received a request for 6 months furnished in Pittsburgh, a couple wants to have a place during the baseball season May-Oct as husband plays for the Pittsburgh Pirates.  I considered it as it was the first response to my listing, but the cost to furnish + ending a lease in Oct seems non-ideal.  

Want to share the addresses and a little more description?  Are they currently listed, and have pictures to assess what "very bad shape" means?  You might get lucky and find some of us who invest in Pittsburgh willing to take them off your hands and do the rehab.

I have a good HVAC guy I'll refer you to: Shaun Orris at Temp-Rite Heating and Cooling. Message me and I'll give you his number.

Looks like this got approved in November?  https://www.muslaw.com/real-es... But I can't seem to find where to actually register a rental, just news about it going into effect.  I don't see a Rental Permit option on OneStopPGH.

I have a good tiler I've been happy with, but I have him booked til 12/17, if you're interested after that I can put you in touch... just not willing to let him get distracted until he's finished my job!  

 Square footage?  How nice are finishings?  How customizable?  Was the 85k purchase price just for the land?  What part of Pittsburgh?