Erie, PA market info

[Ismael Souley]

Hello BP Community. 

I am a newbie (from Colorado) with a high interest on the Erie real estate market. My interest is to buy and hold, in college towns. With all the colleges and Universities present, and the current market rate, Erie looks like a sweet spot to invest in. 

Looking at Zillow, there is a lot of foreclosure and "not in good shape" properties near Gannon University compared to the area near Penn State. The market near Penn State seems more expensive as well. I would like to know from the locals, or out of state investors familiar with Erie: 

1) What type of neighborhood is Gannon/Mercyhurst Universities in?

2) What are some good neighborhoods (class B) near colleges/universities worth looking into?

I would appreciate any feedbacks and also, any existing investors' experience with college tenants in this area.

Thank you

[Karl B.]

Hello. I grew up in Erie and own multiple properties there (both commercial and residential). Erie is like many towns - pockets of good and not-so-good and lots of exceptions. 

Close to Mercyhurst is a safe part of town. I dated a lot of Mercyhurst women and a lot of them lived off-campus. Some Mercyhurst students prefer to live off-campus. A lot of foreign students live on campus (they have a lot of diversity which is cool) and there isn't enough on-campus housing. A lot of people rent a house, whether with friends or with strangers through Craig's List. 

Gannon is a bit tricker. It's located in "downtown Erie". Some of the areas are very nice and the architecture is cool. All the millionaires lived on West 8th back in the 1800s and most of those homes were purchased by lawyers/accountants/non-profits for their offices. I invest west of Gannon and don't cater toward Gannon students but I have a buddy who owns a multi-family near Gannon so it happens. 

But a lot of areas around Gannon are not-so-nice. You would likely be "safe" investment-wise if you purchased super close to campus. It's not so much there are unsafe areas (Trulia has crime-mapping which will give you an idea) but there are areas considered undesirable and Gannon students want to walk to class since it's downtown and is in a more populated area (unlike Behrend, my undergraduate alma-mater where I had fraternity brothers who rented all over the east side of Erie and commuted). 

For Gannon and Mercyhurst, you're going to want to invest as close to campus as possible. As mentioned, for Behrend, it can be farther away. At one point our fraternity house was in Wesleyville, which is where numerous fraternity/sorority houses and renters lived. Though that could be a riskier move now that G.E. jobs have been leaving Erie due to union disagreements and would likely result in more vacancies (though Behrend has been growing as there currently is a lack of housing which is why people are building apartment buildings near campus). 

I'll be in Erie again soon. WAITING to finally close on a 4-unit I made a deal on in September (seller is finishing repairs and the appraisal just happened last Tuesday).  If you decide to invest in Erie I will be more than happy to answer any questions. I can direct you toward the tradesman we use also. My family owns a lot of commercial real estate and when I started out on my own I had references to everyone I currently use and they have all been good. My mortgage lender is in Erie and she's been solid as well. 

Quit edit: A lot of people have been investing in LeCom housing. I plan to and would prefer this over the undergraduate colleges. Also, check out Edinboro. It's a university located out in the country. I don't head out there but the numbers might make sense (especially if there's a multi-family located near campus).