New member Philadelphia PA Looking for guidance

[Shawn C.]

Hello my name is Shawn I'm a Philadelphia carpenter looking to purchase homes in or around Philadelphia area. I'm fairly young and have little understanding of how these processes work. I read a lot about people buying homes and selling them and all kinds of terms being thrown around it's quite intimidating. A co worker of mine got me hooked a few years ago on something called a sheriff sale I've done some research but the process seems risky I would like to look into these further. For instance if I have a question about something say a tax delinquent sale how does this work exactly do you essentially pay that persons taxes and if they don't pay them within that year you will own that property? It's hard to find these answers clearly. I have lots of questions probably buried in these forums somewhere but I would like to know how and where to get started I've saved a lot of money and would like to further secure my future. Thanks for any help just throwing all this out maybe someone can help me out. Shawn

[Ethan Giller]

@Shawn C. welcome to BP!  Some advice:

1) Start by finding one or more real estate agents in the area who can help you locate properties.  BP is a great source of knowledge but nothing beats having someone you are working directly with who is experienced with investors.  A good agent can help you locate properties that make sense for your criteria, and a great agent will have a source for off-market investment deals too.

2) Stay away from sheriff sales until you are more experienced.  In Philly at the moment, it is hard to find a good deal there, at best you won't be able to sell (with clear title) or refinance for over a year from the date of the sale, and most times you don't get to know much about the interior of the property prior to purchase.  Keep it in mind as something to explore in the future once you have a few deals under your belt but don't worry you're not missing out in the meantime.

3) Consider signing up for HAPCO and DIG, two groups local to the Philadelphia area with a lot of great advice and members.

4) Go to local networking events (check out meetup.com, among others) to meet other people in the area who can help you achieve your goals.

Best of luck and have a great 2018!