Buy and Hold In North Philadelphia

[Michael Enriquez]

Hello fellow BP'ers! 

My name is Michael. I currently reside in NY but have been considering in diversifying my investment portfolio to include rental properties (this has always been a goal of mine). 

A fellow co-worker of mine currently holds a few properties in the city of Philadelphia and urged that I do the same. On paper the deals appear to cash flow well (including expenses like CapEx, vacancies, repairs, utilities etc...) and I can purchase my first deal in cash utilizing a 401k and 457 plan loan. However, I do have concerns. I haven't visited the areas I've been looking at personally but a Google earth tour reveals a lot of boarded up and run down properties. I grew up in The Bronx (New York) which most would believe to be the worst of the worst but is this the norm for Philadelphia. I've been looking in the Harrowgate, upper Kensington and Richmond neighborhoods and looking to spend no more than 20-25k excluding repairs that may be needed.

Are there any Northern Philly investors here that may offer their insight, share experiences and/or advice?

[Michael Enriquez]

Hello All

Thanks so much for your responses and advice. Today I embarked on a journey, a friend and I went down to Philadelphia today and scoped out listings that I liked.

You guys were on the money with philly being a block by block city. I drove and walked around the Kensington area today and noticed a trend. It seemed areas closer to the main streets (Allegheny, Lehigh etc..) didn't have as much if any rif raff going on as those blocks buried amongst the side streets. It was rather alarming to see blocks full of adults hanging out on a Tuesday during normal work hours and openly use drugs but I'm glad to have surveyed the area personally as it has helped me narrow down my search for my first deal.