Thoughts and Opinions on Norristown

[Alex Uman]

I often see Norristown as providing a unique opportunity for Pennsylvania and out of state investors alike. Many investors point to the Riverfront Redevelopment plan as having the potential to one day turn the town into the next Phoenixville or even Manayunk. (https://norristown.org/424/Riv...) Appreciation seems somewhat inevitable in the long run though many often pass on the opportunity to invest here.

For many investors I work with local to Philly and Delaware County it is simply too much traffic up 76 to make the drive worth it to manage properties or to work on flips. For Montgomery County investors I've seen the city as a point of contention with some citing sub optimal results in past projects as well as problem tenants giving them pause on picking anything up here. Others are more optimistic and have changed their tune with more recent successes giving the town a chance in the last year or so.

Do you invest in Norristown? If so what do you see becoming of the town in the longer term. Would you flip here or do you still see it as more of a rental pocket. If not, what prevents you from doing deals there even if it's simply the snail paced commute up 76.

[Ramon Robert Rios]

I am actually an investor and resident in the heart of Norristown. I will say that the opportunity is certainly there to make money. My wife and I are in the process of doing a cash-out refinance on our live-in renovation and we plan to househack once that is completed. We live in a 5 bed 2 bath semi-detached twin near the Schuylkill River trail and purchased the place at $101,000. We renovated it with $45K and we will find out if it will appraise for $185-200K next Friday. We can rent out bedrooms for around $500-600/month, which will almost cover mortgage and then when we leave the whole place can easily rent for $1,800. My biggest complaint has been the codes office. They take much longer than other areas (even though they say they are good) and they simply have so many ridiculous codes that it sometimes hinders progress. I can tell you the local government does not like slumlords, which there are plenty of and unfortunately this attracts bad tenants and gives the rest of us a bad name, but actually living in the area for the most part has been great! Easy drive into King of Prussia, regional rail into center-city. I know I will not live here forever, but it was a great way to begin my real estate investing. Let me know if you have any further questions! Would be happy to chat!