House Hacking in Lehigh Valley, PA

[Mary Ciccarelli]

My boyfriend and I have been house hunting in the Lehigh Valley area of PA since March 2021. We’re looking for a duplex to HOUSE HACK as our first investment deal but after looking for a year and making 3 competitive offers in the last couple months we just haven’t been successful in scoring a property.

Can anyone offer some general advice scoring a deal in this market?

Is this not the right market for us? Is anyone investing in Lehigh Valley right now and can offer some advice?

Do we need to change approaches, strategies, markets?

Appreciate any feedback!!

[Nick Riccio]

@Mary Ciccarelli Congrats to you and your boyfriend on getting started! Market is absolutely insane right now (basically everywhere, lol). My advice, have your lender fully underwrite you upfront, talk about appraisal-gap strategies (incase of low appraisal), and tighten contingencies and timelines. If you're fully underwritten with an approval, while you're not "cash", you'll be much closer and much more desirable. 

Hope this helps!