Philadelphia metro area recommendations

[Francisco O.]

Hello BP community,

I am currently a NYC resident, but will move to Philadelphia this summer. I want to take advantage of the move and buy a duplex or fourplex, with my family living in one unit and renting out the other units.

I plan to drive to the area this weekend to get a feel of the neighborhoods/suburbs in the Philly metro area. To those who are familiar with the market:

• What areas do you personally like, either in the suburbs or neighborhoods in the city?

• What areas do you think are growing or have a particular feature attracting residents (particularly young married couples with no children)?

• What areas should we stay away from? This is particularly important since we don't know the area.

• What local publications you like or deem reliable (e.g., newspapers, blogs, or business trade publications) to know the area well?

Please feel free to contact me by inbox, as I am also interested in networking and building my RE team (broker, lawyer, accountant, property managers, etc.)

Thanks for you help!

Cheers,

Francisco

[Paulette Midgette]

Hello Franciso,

Let me start by saying that I absolutely love the City of Philadelphia and its surrounding areas.  It is a city full of history, diversity, and culture.  You and your family will never be in want of something to do here.

I have lived in the city of Philadelphia my entire life and have worked in the suburbs most of my adult working life.  All of the flips I have done have been in the suburbs and all my buy and holds have been purchased in the city.  The reason? Simple, the majority of renters (48%)  reside in the city and the vase majority of people in the suburbs own their homes.  That is not to say there aren't renters in the suburbs, because there are, just a lot less of them. In fact there are some pockets in the suburbs were there are a high percentage of renters, such as Norristown, but I don't think this is a good area for investing.  Also, I have noticed that duplexes can be found in the burbs more readily than triplexes or fourplexes.

Philadelphia is a city of neighborhoods.  Neighbors are close, mostly rowhomes and twins.  So, if you are looking for area where your children could make friends in the neighborhood the city  provide this.  With that said the areas of West Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill have large percentages of large single family homes that are located at distances away from one another...so these may not be good if you have children.  West Mt. Airy, East. Mt. Airy, Center City, Parts of South Philly, Fishtown and more recently Kensington are all areas where single young professional are buying homes.  You will also find many multifamily units in these areas as well.

Below are a few  links to help you learn a little more about the city.  Please feel contact me via my inbox with questions about an area you have identified, purchase price points, or simply an RE reference. I have not found any links like the ones listed below for the burbs, but an internet search on the suburban areas you are interested in will give some information.

http://www.phila.gov/cityplanning/Pages/default.aspx - Click District Plans

http://www.visitphilly.com/philadelphia-neighborhoods/

http://www.ocfrealty.com/naked-philly