Duplex or Quad pricing in Philadelphia

[Fatima Champagne]

How do you determine whether a duplex or quad is priced appropriately? How do you know if you're getting a good deal?  Is there a site or resource I can read up on noting the current market rates in the area? 

[Daniel Flesher]

@Fatima Champagne What price is appropriate is based on what your investment strategy is. BP has tools for analyzing properties that are tailored to different investment strategies. 

I tend to work backwards. Instead of looking at the price someone is asking, I'll start by looking at what it will rent/sell for either before or after a rehab. Then I'll make some estimates on what it would cost to rehab. From there I work in either how much I'd like to make from a flip, or how much cash flow I'd like to have from a rental property. That will give me a purchase price that makes sense for what I'm trying to do. 

If the asking price is at or below the price I came up with, then it's a no brainer. Buy it. But most of the time the asking price will be much higher and you'll have to haggle and accept a lot of people saying just saying, "no" to your offer.

As @Mags S. said, one of the best ways to know where to look is to get your financing in order first. Then you'll know right away what areas you'll be priced out of.