All Forum Posts by: Sheryl Sitman

@Sunny A. when a gas bill is in tenant's name, the landlord does not have access to the account. But regardless, the way it works in Philadelphia is that water and gas are lienable items -- so if a tenant does not pay, the utility will come after the owner, not the tenant whose name is on the bill. In the case of gas, the gas company offers a landlord cooperation program in which the LL is protected from being liable for delinquent gas bills. For water, there is nothing a landlord can do. Any unpaid water bills will always be the owner responsibility. So we keep water in our name and bill our tenants. May not make sense that this happens, but it is the way it works. Inexperienced LLs sometimes get caught by this with unpleasant surprises.

I run a group of over 2,000 Philadelphia area landlords and almost a day does not go buy where someone asks a question or shares an experience that makes you realize just how much you need to know in order to be a successful landlord.  Not everything is intuitive or about being a smart investor or manager. I invest in multiple markets and each one has its own quirks - things that you would never think to ask or check into. Here is an example.  In Philly, the majority of homes use gas for heat and hot water. So you may think that when your tenant moves in and shows you that he has placed the gas in his name, that is the end of story. But guess what, if you leave it at that and your tenant fails to pay their gas bills, when he eventually leaves the property, you will not know that there are unpaid bills, but you will be responsible to pay them. Sounds unfair right? So there is a Landlord Cooperation program that you need to sign up for with the gas company and once you do that, you eliminate that risk, as long as you remain compliant (by having a valid rental license).    The lesson is that when you go into a new market, do not assume anything. Join groups, use property management companies, research on your own -- and make sure you have a full understanding of the requirements for being a landlord.

 I submit all of my properties across the country to a property tax appeal attorney who runs the props every year to determine if they are over assessed - for free. Then I have the option to engage the attorney to appeal the tax and only pay if they succeed to reduce the assessment based on a percentage of the reduction. They are likely to always get me better results than I could get for myself.

@Michelle Borg I moved to the Philly suburbs in 2016 in order to develop my investment portfolio and have since spread out to multiple states. I am sure that the numbers in Philly look great on the proformas you may be running. What you are missing is an understanding of what lies behind those interesting numbers. Done right, Philadelphia can be  a solid investment. But many remote investors (in general) are naive and do not take the time to learn the market and set up the systems and teams they need to invest wisely and manage their investments well. I run the FB group Philadelphia Landlords Connect -2000+ small investors who have a variety of experiences that they share and help each other to find good contractors, navigate city laws...  There are many parts of Philly that have undergone incredible transitions. There are more neighborhoods than you can imagine. Philly is block by block and it is VERY tenant friendly -- so you need to truly know what you are doing. But knowing what you are doing should be a part of investing anywhere -otherwise it is gambling and not investing.  Since you are on the other side of the country, you may not have considered that PA is filled with many micro markets as well within driving distance of Philly. Lots to do out here. Feel free to reach out and good luck in your journey!

The work that was done was surely work that needed to be permitted meaning a city inspector would have been out to check that the work meets code requirements. If the seller "skipped" that - he is liable and broke the law. Reach out to PA Attorney General. They may be looking for cases like that.

@Ron Dolenti  Hi Ron.  Happy to connect you with the PM that I use for my Philly props - took me a few tries to find someone I am satisfied with.  I run the group Philadelphia Landlords Connect on FB and you can also get suggestions there as well.

I manage the FB group Philadelphia Landlords Connect for all Philly area landlords to discuss and share info. Over and over we see new landlords that have not done their homework on what is required to vet tenants, how to structure a good lease and how to do ongoing management -- all for the sake of saving money.  Be careful and do not make the mistake of thinking paying someone who is good at what they do, is eating into your bottom line.    Of course many people are great at self management but it takes a lot of knowhow and experience.

Interesting range of markets and a very specific product.  How did you determine that product in those few markets? I am in Philly (investing in single family in multiple markets). I run a very large group of Philadelphia small landlords. There are lots of challenges - in my opinion - in small multi investments that I don't like. Do your homework!

@Ari Evans sorry you are having this bad experience. It is a problem with flippers who cut corners and hite sub par contractors. We have a group called Philadelphia Landlords Connect on FB where there are a lot of people who can advise you.  Maybe you should look into filing a civil complaint against seller.  If he owns assets and the property was in his name, he can pay... Anything he tells you about what you should or shouldn't do is not relevant.

@Karim Elahi I am a Philly investor with a few section 8 props.  Be prepared - it is not as easy as you may think to work with the tenants or PHA. Do your homework. I am happy with my Property Manager. I  run the Philadelphia landlords Connect Facebook group and you can get a lot of info there as well. Feel free to reach out.  Good luck!!