All Forum Posts by: Nate Jones

We are co-hosting a free Central PA real estate meetup next Tues, Aug 16, at Lebanon Valley College that might be helpful for some folks on here to attend. The meetup will bring together a bunch of experts who have bought a lot of properties at tax sales.... and what you need to know before you do (these people can save you a lot of money with their knowledge). We have personally been to all the major tax sales (Judicial and Upset) in Central PA including York, Lancaster, Harrisburg (Berks), and Reading (Dauphin) and each one is a little different.

The monthly real estate meetup is for real estate investors of all levels of experience and is the third Tues each month. We have free pizza and networking @630 and the content kicks off @7. Besides the content.... you can meet some really interesting people who are investing across Pennsylvania. More info on the monthly meetup is available here: meetup.com/Lebanon-County-Real-Estate-Investing-Meetup/ 

Hope to meet you all there!

I'd say 7-10% is a decent expectation for cap rate in Lancaster County right now.  But.... it's very dependent on single vs multi units and where in Lancaster you are investing.    

Yuriy,

We have no problem finding tenants in Lebanon, average time to find a tenant is 3 weeks.  Crime is lower than nearby cities, so that is good.  Overall it's a very stable place to invest.  There is also a big project underway to improve downtown Lebanon and spur economic growth.  We also have a Lebanon investors meetup that we started a few months ago with some other local investors.  Feel free to come by the meetup -- third Tues of the week at 630 PM, it's a good place to get local investment info as it's growing pretty fast.  

http://www.meetup.com/Lebanon-County-Real-Estate-I...  

Shoot me a PM, email, or call me if you want more details on the area or anything else PM related.

- Nate

I would highly recommend Ryan Mellinger as a title agent (http://primetransfertitle.com/index.html).  We have done over 30 deals with him and he's always been amazing.  Both timely and good prices.  

Bill -

I'd suggest going to this meetup at the end of the month in Harrisburg if you've never been.  Good folks come here to the main meetup each month and there are usually a couple folks there that specialize in creative financing.

http://www.meetup.com/LIMG-Harrisburg/  

Come say hi if you go to the meetup, I'm usually there.

- Nate

Abijah -

We go to most of the upset sales in Central PA... both as investors and also a property management company.  Shoot me a note -- happy to chat more to see if there's something here.

- Nate

Been mentioned a bunch previously in the thread, but we see good returns across Central PA due to the stability of the area and less overall investment money.    If you're looking for a good agent in the area.... Judah Hoover is really great with a good investment background since you dont know the area too well.  

Let us know if you need any rent estimates -- happy to provide guidance on what to expect on the rents or you can use a local rent estimate tool we built direct on our website for free.  

Vijay -

We manage properties across Central PA for owners who live outside the area (Berks, Lancaster, York, Lebanon, Dauphin).   I think York might actually be a good fit for what you want, based on what you are looking for.  We own some properties there ourselves. Shoot me a direct note if you want and we can talk further.  Also -- for your modeling -- we charge 6% a month as a monthly management fee and .5 a months rent to find a tenant... which should help your returns some.

- Nate

We invest and manage a bunch of properties in Harrisburg, PA and have had good returns there.  Send me a direct message and I'll send you some names / #s of real estate agents in the area that we'd recommend.

Nicole -

Happy to help you.  I'm originally from Lititz, live in Manheim now, and our company's HQ's are in Lancaster.... so I happen to know the area well.   Regarding vacancy rates --- the rental demand (and investment demand) is very strong in the area.  We are seeing vacancy rates in Lancaster under 3% right now across the properties we manage and the ones we own, a lower vacancy rate than we see in some neighboring counties.   One thing in particular that we find interesting is the investment in entertainment technology in Lititz, driven by Clair Global and Rock Lititz.  

Regarding contractors -- our contractors are mostly full-time (we are a PM company), but we do also know the main contracting companies if you need specific suggestions once you find a place.

A lot of people will caution you to avoid the city (due to higher crime).... but honestly we see better returns there ourselves on our buy and hold properties.  The rental demand is still very high in the city.  In general, we are very optimistic about the future of Lancaster. 

Anyway.... shoot me a note if you want to discuss more via email or over the phone.