Philadelphia neighborhood opinions - Cobbs, Fairhill, Elmwood

[John Humphries]

Hi BP
I'm looking for some opinions on some neighborhoods in Philly. Specifically looking at:
W. Glenwood Ave - Fairhill
South Alden St - Cobbs Creek/Angora
Paschall Ave - Elmwood

Anyone have any experience in these areas that can offer opinions on pros or cons or places to avoid?

[Jimmy O'Connor]

@John Humphries- All of those places are great rental markets that usually BRRR out pretty consistently. Although there is a wide range of property value.

I'll start with my favorite out of those- Cobbs Creek

Cobbs has a lot of direct influence from U-City expansion. The borders have gradually pushed Westward to what is considered the "nice area."  Rule of thumb in that pocket is the more south of market/chestnut towards Baltimore the better and obviously the more east towards Penn & Drexel.  There are a couple major projects going from major developers like the ~50 unit commercial/mixed used residential at 59th and market, the torn down church at 48th and city pumping a couple billion into West Philly per its 20 year comprehensive plan. 

Elmwood is an interesting beast. Along Island Ave you have a pretty strict border. On the SE Side houses are selling for +200k with nice granite, Central AC, finished basement, etc. On the other you can sell formica, no AC, no finished basement for 130k all day. Both are great markets, all depending on what you are looking to do. Regardless of the side, that is a low crime rate area (you can look up those statistics here  http://data.philly.com/philly/crime/. 

Fairhill- No sugar coating- this place is ROUGH. Great Cashflow with incredibly low purchase prices BUT there is this thing called "Allegheny Ave." This is well known throughout the city, unfortunately, as the focal point for rampant drug use. Here is a sample of one of many articles highlighting the issuehttps://www.businessinsider.com/mexican-heroin-philadelphia-democratic-convention-2016-7 North of Temple Hospital (essentially Lehigh Ave) is where you see the evidence, and man it's sad. Not too far east are a couple of the rougher stops on the El (Market-Frankford Line). I know some investors that do very well here with S8 housing, but I would say it is one of the roughest areas in Philly.