All Forum Posts by: Sherief Melik

Thanks @John D. and @Matt R. for your replies.

Hi,

I through buying my first investment property and i have a question regarding estimating the maintenance costs.

After checking a foreclosure house which has been winterized, if my offer is accepted and i get a home inspection are they going to be able to check pipes and all taps while it's winterized ?

My main question is when inspection checks house and give a list of issues that i need to fix, can i later one find some serious issues ? like main water source leakage ? foundation mold ? mold between drywall which been replaced to cover the mold and leakage which was not fixed ? can i have any huge/serious surprises after professional inspector that can cost me thousands of dollars and lose my investments ?

Do inspectors can also give me a rough estimation costs ?

My only concern is buying a house and find a serious issues which cost me for example 30k while inspector/contractor said stuff for 10-20k , can this happen ? 

Thanks.

@Mark Gallagher i am targeting the city center of Allentown and i have seen some for that price with minimal work unless i am missing something ?

The main problem that listed good shaped ones with reasonable price who can get me the ROI i talked about are very limited as it seems the market is getting hot these days there, that's why i was checking other cities too.

I want to start rental investment, but i am confused between cities to start in , and i am not attached to any as for my job i am moving from one to another, so i just need a long term investment and to have it as a retirement destination.

If you have general advise or any information about those cities or even other ones, that will be highly appreciated.

My brother is no in Allentown, PA while i live currently in Schaumburg ,IL , i like in Allentown that you can buy a house for 50k and rent it for $950 and pay average of $1700 tax property, it's a blue collar city which you can find some good tenants if you do your homework but there is a lack in the available listed good shape properties, i was also thinking about Chicago,IL but not sure about if it has better deals ? can i make higher ROI than the ones i stated above ?

So for me it's Allentown, PA  vs Chicago IL but yet am open to any suggestions.