Hello from Pittsburgh..

[Yos W.]

Signup last week after stumbling upon BP.. been reading great articles and posts here.. *speaking of brain overload* :)

Completely new to RE investing and wanted to start with Single home rental property or a condo for student but still taking my time to educate myself before jumping in.

For all this time, I thought that Pittsburgh is quite bad for RE market, considering most houses don't appreciate that much.. but then today Yahoo posted that Pittsburgh is #4 in Flippers market!!

a little bit about myself:
- Graduated from Duquesne University (class of 98 - business major)
- working full time in IT field
- working part time as wedding photographer
- married to my beautiful wife, blessed with a 3 y.o son.

a couple quick questions to start with:

1. I'm wondering about the capital needed to purchase my 1st rental property,
can I refinance the home I stayed in (50K left in mortgage) instead of a HELOC? how much will the bank let me refinance?

2. I'm quite handy with tools, but never really make a major DIY project like tearing up a wall (but I could replace toilet/sink, put tile flooring, etc) - how important is the ability to fix almost everything in a rental place? most contractors I have contacted in the past are either: good work but very expensive or affordable but sub-par work... I'm afraid if I get into a terrible fixer-upper, I will spend a lot of $ fixing them due to my inexperience.

3. does an LLC be necessary for the 1st rental property?

4. Anyone from Pittsburgh with exposure to buying sheriff' sale willing to share info with me? :)

I have more questions, but I figure I introduce myself first (and do more research in the forum) before bombarding away with repeated questions.

Cheers!

[Brandon Turner]

Hey Yos W. welcome to the site! In answer to your questions:

1.) Each bank is different, but you should be able to do this as long as you qualify. You can probably find a bank willing to go up to 80-90% of your home's value. I actually like this better than a HELOC - cause it's a fixed rate loan, vs. an adjustable line.

2.) I think it's better NOT to know how to do too much. Because if you know how - you'll end up doing it all. It's better to be good at managing people. It's more scalable.

3.) I don't think it's ever too early for an LLC, but definitely talk to an attorney. You may be better off with a large umbrella insurance policy.

4.) Can't help ya there!

Good luck and glad to have you here! Be sure to set up your Keyword Alerts for "Pittsburgh" so you can jump into local conversations!