House-hacking in poor neighborhoods-Philadelphia Multifamily

[Parth Patel]

I am currently under contract for a house, a triplex I want to house hack in. My plan is to live/intend to live in one of the units and rent out the other two units. The property is in decent shape to rent out as is but could use tender love and care in other areas to raise the rent or look better. 

The property is in the Nicetown-tiago neighbourhood. On paper the numbers for cash flow and income make sense. I am having butterflies in my stomach about the neighboorhood with the low-income area and few empty boarded-up houses. The houses is near Temple University Hospital and a middle and high school. The crime hot map shows that the crim is lighter in comparison to other areas. 

Those that have house hacked in lower-income neighbourhoods...

- How have those properties appreciated?

- How has the landlord management been?

- What were your takeaways and lesson learned?

[Sheryl Sitman]

@Parth Patel  it is a rough area and Med school students are not living a mile from the hospital. Many live in South Philly, Fishtown, Northern Liberties. It is block by block, so really depends. Get over there during the day and explore! Signs of big rehabs?  Do you see a mixture of prices in the area that would indicate there is a transition beginning?  Look at city plans for the area. Talk to people. Go to community meetings. Get a good security system, good lighting.