Feedback/Guidance for Couple Attempting to House-hack in Philly

[Ricardo Suris]

Hello BP Members!

My wife and I are currently trying to start our real estate investment journey by house-hacking a property in Philadelphia, PA. Ideally, it would be a multifamily property, but we are also open to the idea of a single family residence. Since my wife's current workplace is located in 'Center City', we have been looking for houses in the 'South Philly' region; for this region provides for more affordable pricing. All-in-all, we are looking to get a house in a safe enough area for my wife to live in by herself (as I will be going away soon for military purposes), that needs no major renovations, and that can cashflow, at the very least, $200 after PITI and variable expenses (i.e. vacancy rates, capex, repairs and maintenance, and management fees). We have around $40k saved to implement on this purchase and are planning on financing the deal with ither an FHA loan or VA loan.

The reason I am writing this post is because in the attempt to find a deal that can fit this description, we have yet to be successful. All the houses that fit this description, after analyzing them through the BP rental analysis tool, always come to be cashflow negative (even after we move out of the property). This has me very frustrated and confused. I do not know if I am over-estimating variable expenses or under-estimating rent prices, or if I am doing a combination of both.

If anyone could please provide us with some feedback/guidance/thoughts, we would be very appreciative of it!

Thank you in advance for your responses!