All Forum Posts by: Anthony Angotti
Anthony Angotti has started 64 posts and replied 1482 times.
Post: need some advice for arras for real estate investing (beginner)
- Real Estate Agent
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Posts 1,538
- Votes 845
Quote from @Paras Newbe:
Hello - I live in Issaquah, WA state. I want to invest for cash flow in current market. I tried Austin, Kyle, Buda but most of them turned out to be negative cash flow If I do 25% down and also account for property management fees. I am looking for buy, and rent strategy (don't want to do rehab and all for my first try)
My goal is to have 3 investment by the end of June 2023 and I want each to clash flow (unsure about cash on cash return target for now). I plan to invest ~90K for each.
1. Anyone has suggestion where can I invest around locally (so I can do self management) for cash flow? Is Tacoma a good area? Any suggestion?
2. For out of WA state, where can I go?
3. Any suggestion around single family vs Multiplex (duplex / triplex)
4. Will be great if someone can suggest property management company along with potential area of where to invest.
Will be great if someone can mentor me here.
Thank you.
I invest and live in Pittsburgh, PA and it’s been great for me. I started buying single family homes and duplexes and now mostly small apartment buildings and commercial properties. Up to 170 units in various neighborhoods and I can say that while it has been harder to find a deal the market is starting to top off a bit. Rents have gone up a good bit as well to offset the rise in prices. You just have to have some forward thinking to make deals work because most of the time when people sell their properties they are way below market rent.
Would be happy to talk more about Pittsburgh if you have any specific questions or want to consider it. In addition to what I own I’ve worked with a lot of out of state investors as an agent and property manager so I can speak to their experience a bit as well.
Post: Home security and/or monitoring
- Real Estate Agent
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Posts 1,538
- Votes 845
Quote from @Nicholas Bronte:
Hi BP,
I'm under contract and about to close on a Duplex but, because the seller has been slow to provide the required documents, the closing has stalled and the contractors I had lined up to begin the rehab have had to move on to other jobs. It's possible that no one, aside from the PM, will be in the property for maybe a month or potentially longer. I've been considering ways to set up a basic home surveillance system just for my own peace of mind while the property sits empty (and maybe even into the future) and was wondering if anyone else has done this? Probably just an unnecessary expense but I don't know....thoughts?
we have these fake cameras up at some properties in not great areas and they actually reduced the shadiness happening nearby.
If you’re looking for something that actually records video and you can access without going to the property it’s going to be somewhat expensive. They used to advertise a system that didn’t need wifi on the BP podcast but I can’t remember what it was called
Post: Considering buying a small multi-family out of state...advice?
- Real Estate Agent
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Posts 1,538
- Votes 845
Quote from @Monica Boyles:
Hi all - looking to buy my first 2-4 unit multifamily (or possibly STR). I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, so buying locally doesn't make sense. I've been looking at more remote but still desirable parts of California, but obviously CA is just expensive in general. Even though I am aiming to put 30-40% down, it seems like it will be challenging to get rents to cover a loan and basic monthly expenses. Would love any guidance on buying out of state -- from best markets to consider, to techniques for research, how not to get burned, is it OK to purchase sight unseen or would you always recommend viewing in person, etc. I'm sure this topic has been covered before, so please feel free to point me to existing guidance if there is some. Many thanks in advance.
Since you want 2-4 unit buildings you’ll want to look in a market that has many of those. Some places just don’t have a ton of housing stock of that type. My market Pittsburgh has a lot of small multifamily if you wanted a place to start. Happy to answer any questions on Pittsburgh.
The most important component of your success though will be your team. Your realtor, property manager, and contractors will likely be the ones you interact with the most over time, but your lender is also important. You may get referrals to other members of your team from whoever you have first, but it’s also important to look on your own.
Best of luck! If you have my specific questions feel free to ask!
Post: House Hacking a Duplex or Triplex ?
- Real Estate Agent
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Posts 1,538
- Votes 845
Quote from @Joe Gilroy:
Hello BP ! I am planning to buy a duplex or triplex to house hack in and need some ideas on the location. I am considering the following areas mostly because of the low price points they offer. Toledo, Akron, Canton, and Youngstown Ohio. And also Pittsburgh Pa metro area. My price range is between $50k to $150k. I will live in one of the units. It can not be a fixer and must be move in ready or maybe it just needs a little paint because I am not that handy and I don’t want to mess with fixing stuff.
I am also thinking about furnishing one of the units and making it a medium term rental for travelling nurses. My question is which location is best and also if a property priced this low can it still qualify for a medium term rental ! If you have any advice or experience, I would appreciate the help. Thanks.
You could find a fixer in Pittsburgh in a C class neighborhood in this range but if you’re looking for something turnkey that will be tough.
Post: What is the best way to invest 250k?
- Real Estate Agent
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Posts 1,538
- Votes 845
Quote from @Paul Farley:
I am looking at investing into real estate. If you had financing for $250k, what would you invest into for your first purchase?
I prefer small multifamily because it is rarely 100% vacant and you typically don’t have to worry about covering the mortgage as long as you run your numbers first and don’t buy a dumb deal.
Any way you slice it though, just buy a good deal somewhere and get going.
If this isn’t your first deal then I think you have an idea of what to or what not to buy depending on how it’s going.
Post: When can I convert primary residence to AirBNB?
- Real Estate Agent
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Posts 1,538
- Votes 845
Quote from @Dominick Johnson:
Typically 1 year. Technically nothing is stopping you from renting it out the day after you close, but that's a personal risk/ethical decision you can make.
Committing mortgage fraud would be a pretty big thing stopping them, but I guess if something that can carry severe legal punishment up to felony isn't stopping them then by all means. . . .
Post: When can I convert primary residence to AirBNB?
- Real Estate Agent
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Posts 1,538
- Votes 845
Quote from @Matt Willison:
Purchased a primary residence home in August 2022. We are eager to begin using this property as a long term (3 months at a time) or a short term rental. What are my options for when I could begin renting out this property?
You have to look at your loan paperwork. Many of them have "no hoteling" clauses that would prevent you from doing this. Same goes for your insurance policy.
For insurance I'd call your agent. I'm sure they will be more than happy to sell you something additional.
For your loan you should just brew a nice pot of Joe and give it a look. If you did it with an FHA loan then you will likely need to refi out of it because I know that they contain no hoteling clauses.
Post: Philly-based Startup seeking advice for launching in Pittsburgh
- Real Estate Agent
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Posts 1,538
- Votes 845
Quote from @Cj Koch:
What's up BP! I've been thinking about what the best way would be to launch my startup in the greater Pittsburgh area so I thought why not just ask as I know there are a lot of very smart and creative people here.
I launched DirectSubs in Philadelphia a couple years back, it connects real estate investors with local contractors for their flips, rentals, renovations and new construction projects. I knew from experience that some sort of unified hub would benefit investors and contractors alike. There's over 1000 users here in Philly using the service (which is still free) and I'm interested in rolling it out to Pittsburgh. I know there's a robust real estate market there plus we're practically neighbors so it just makes sense.
Any suggestions on the best ways to get the word out to investors & local contractors?
I need to populate the platform with enough local users in order to achieve "critical mass" so it can begin functioning at a high level. No wrong answers here and any questions or comments are welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for any consideration!
CJ
The PIttsburgh Real Estate Investor facebook groups are pretty active and would be a good place to start.
The way licensing for contractors work in the Pittsburgh area though is a total mess and getting a contractor in the city vs in the suburbs is a mess. You won't have a problem getting people most likely, but you're going to run into issues with a mashup of contractors not really qualified to do work. Just my opinion.
Post: MTR in Pittsburgh, PA
- Real Estate Agent
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Posts 1,538
- Votes 845
Quote from @Bill Brown:
Anyone doing MTR in Pittsburgh? How has your experience been?
I have a property in the city we are considering using as a MTR. By some metrics, it should be in a good area for it, but I've had a hard time finding convincing data.
Personally no, but another investor friend of mine has a lot of luck with this and gets good rates. You have to network with insurance companies and relocation companies and the sort though.
He gets a lot of tenants from UPMC, Pitt, consulting firms, and companies like that. He also posts his places on air Bnb and short term sites with minimum stay requirements of 4 days and then talks to the people after to see if they are a longer term person and want to renew for a better rate.
When I asked him for his rent info to see if it would make sense for me he said he gets around 15-30% more rent doing it this way.
Personally I didn’t want the hassle of it, but that is a decent amount extra.
Post: help please ~ 2 Questions. 2nd deal ~ Pittsburgh, PA
- Real Estate Agent
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Posts 1,538
- Votes 845
@Katie Landis when you say an unofficial duplex what exactly do you mean? Even if the zoning is correct, if it doesn't have an occupancy permit for the current use you will run into issues if you need anything in the future.
Problem 1) You try to get permits. You flag yourself as an illegal use. You can't use it as a duplex anymore in the city without doing serious renovation or digging up a case for continuous use over the history of the building.
Problem 2) Utilities aren't separated right. You end up having to pay them all until you renovate to split them up correctly. Which brings you to problem 1 again.
Problem 3) Building burns down. It was an illegal use of the property which gives you an insurance nightmare.
Problem 4) Someone dies because of something at the building which was an illegal use. I don't want to be in that situation because it's probably a law suit.
I'd figure out this use case question before anything because IMO an illegal use building isn't worth the hassle. Especially not in the City of Pittsburgh jurisdiction. In the suburbs it's easier to work with the local government, but dealing with the city for anything is awful.
I've accidentally talked myself into buying these illegal use buildings in the past (once) and it turns into a hassle really fast.