Up-and-coming areas for Multi-family investment in Philadelphia

[Randy Lee]

Hi All, I am an investor in the Atlanta market, but my wife and i are interested in purchasing a multi-family in Philadelphia where a family member can live in one unit, while we rent out the others. We prefer a triplex, but a duplex could work. We want something that could cash flow while at the same time build long-term equity. Our budget is not more than 400k. Our preference is in/or near University City but the prices are pretty high and there seems to be very low inventory for multi-families. Are there any other up-and-coming areas and/or investor-friendly realtors you could recommend?

[Eric Greenberg]

My input is unless you know the city get someone on your team that does. Even around University City there are some ‘interesting’ pockets. If it were me and a family member was looking to live in the property, Id rather get them in a better area and sacrifice some cashflow vs just running things by the numbers. 

Another piece of advice since you are out of state, there are many multi-unit buildings in philly that do not have the correct zoning or variance and are illegal even if theyve been running that way for years. Utilize https://atlas.phila.gov/ to verify this and if they currently have rental licenses for all units.