All Forum Posts by: Rob Bianco

I’m a NYC local who got into real estate about a decade ago as an out-of-state investor in Kansas City and I think I’ve reached a point where I have enough experience and property where I should diversify my investing by entering a new market. Philadelphia is a city I feel very close to as someone who went to Temple and it’s not that far from me geographically.

In regards to investing, I have a few concerns, which I’m hoping someone can speak on. Firstly, the housing stock in Philly is very old and mostly brick which to me usually means lots of maintenance. From old sewer lines, to water coming through the masonry, to outdated electrical, it seems scary for an investor.

Other points of concern include pest control since many of the townhomes are connected.

From an outsider perspective it looks like property tax isn’t as suffocating as a city like Chicago and tons of areas are gentrifying so fast.

Has anyone considered condo investing in Philly so at least that way you’re not wholly responsible for building/exterior maintenance?

Any advice or opinions are appreciated

It's tough out there and I've been just trying to poach things off MLS but everything has been getting eaten up so fast. How does one go about finding an investor friendly realtor who may have a few stuff off the market or at the very least works with out-of-state investors?

@Edward Wodziak There are approx. 10 within walking distance. 

I have a 6-plex building in midtown KC located between the downtown area and all the major hospitals and a university. It's a nice area, but finding long-term renters can be a challenge, especially in the off-season. A friend of mine suggested the location is perfect to do AirBnB and I've really considered it, but before I invest in all the decor and furnishings I thought I'd ask if anyone here had some thoughts on the matter?

I am well aware I'll have to pay utilities for the apartment and my insurance costs are going to go up. Furthermore, my parents think my renters occupying the other 5 units are going to get upset and non-renew at the end of their lease if I start treating 1-2 units like a hotel. 

The building has a brick exterior, street parking (typical for the area), and a basement where laundry is (coin or electronic pay). For the area there are a handful of 2 beds marketed for $1000. I think if I wait long enough I'll get someone but there is definitely a pattern of it taking a long time for me to find tenants.

I believe my property management advertises on both Zillow and Facebook. I only have 1 tenant remaining from old management but I'm not sure if my place has a "reputation" .. It's not a big place, so I'm not sure.

At this time I don't believe I have any person driving potential renters away.

I have a 6-unit property in Midtown Kansas City that I bought in 2020 from a slumlord. The whole place has had modest renovation done to it and are all 3 bed / 1 bath units @ 1200 sq ft.

I have a couple vacancies that I've been trying to fill for about 2 months now with no luck and little interest. I started offering rents for $1200 (which is what I could get in 2021) and have since lowered it to about $1000 which is what a 2 bed unit is actually renting for.

My main concerns are that new construction is coming into the area with new units at like 900 sq ft for $1900/month and I'm not sure how that affects my rental. I'm also concerned that maybe the photos of the unit aren't doing it justice? My Property Manager took the photos of the unit and they don't look much different than whatever else you'd find online but they also don't stand out and look immaculate, but should they?

I have other units in the burbs that rent in like a week so this property has been a thorn in my side, but there's also a lot more competition for the area. Any ideas welcome!

https://ibb.co/C5cYDXV

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https://ibb.co/VqNhvG6

@Caleb Brown It's near'ish the Plaza, yep. I'd love to 1031 but nobody has a Seller willing to wait for me to do the 1031 instead of just taking a cash offer. I also looked into a Reverse 1031 but the fee is $8k-$10k just to do it.

Current Market rents on the 3bed/1bath are $1200. There are also a couple 4beds/2bath that are collecting $1500. Gross rent for all 11 units is roughly $145k a year.

In 2020 I bought an 11-unit complex from a slumlord in Midtown, Kansas City for $1.1 million. It seemed like a pretty good opportunity as the owner was retiring and the area is being revitalized. 8 months later I've spent over $100k renovating the common spaces and 8 of the units. Rents have gone way up and I've definitely increased the value, but the property is almost 100 years old and has a lot of age related issues.

Pretty much all of the HVAC is way beyond life expectancy and while everything works the cost of possible replacement winds up being almost $50k considering all the A/C units are on the roof. The roof has about 5 years of life left but has needed some patch work here and there. There is also some brick work that needs to be done and the line for water and sewer are beyond life expectancy so I'm probably looking at another $100k of repairs over the next few years.

Top it off, the area doesn't rent fast as it's a very saturated rental market in the city. It takes an average of 60 days to find a tenant and attracts mostly college-age and young adults who are hard to vet due to little to no credit history etc...

My Realtor says if I sell now I can get $1.6 million and I'm very much considering it although I doubt I'd easily be able to replace it with something else as the market is very tough right now and it'll likely take me awhile.

Just wanted to hear any opinions anyone might have. TL;DR: Do I flip a high maintenance rental for a nice profit or hold? Also, sorry there's a typo in the post title.

@Ashley Herring

So what was the problem in the end?

Long story short: I thought I had a water leak when my bill spiked $1,000 for 2 months in a row. A fourplex I bought in December has 1 water line so water is included in the rent. I've had 4 different plumbers (one specialized in Leak Detection) out to the building and everyone said there was no leak. I had the water company out to check the meter for a leak or malfunction and that proved to be fine too.

I didn't want to believe that it could be one of my new tenants but with everything else crossed off my list I don't know what else to think although I don't know who it is. There were 6 separate days in the month of July where someone ran the water to 3,000 gallons which is an insane amount. I actually had to do the math and that's equal to running your tub on full blast for 8 hours straight. 

I don't know what to do at this point. My Property Manager wants to tiptoe around the situation and thinks by emailing all the residents to inform them about the issue and to stop that could actually backfire especially if I've made an enemy out of a tenant or something and just don't know it. At this point I'm ready to non-renew the entire building and find new tenants but leases don't end for another 8 months.

What do I do here? I am at break-even with the water bill where it's at.