Help me understand this listing

[Garrett Holbrook]

Hey all.

I'm new to BP and REI and so I spend most of my time lurking and trying to absorb information. I came across this listing in the Pittsburgh area:

- MLS#1351695

- https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2004-Gregory-St...

- Duplex. 3bd + 1ba, 1bd + 1ba

- Somewhat dated, could use cosmetic updates but otherwise appears to be in good condition

- $129,000

I've spent some time looking at rental listings in the immediate area and my rough estimates are that you could get at least $500/mo for the 1bd and $1000/mo for the 3bd for a total of $1500/mo before any updates or renovations. Given the asking price and the fact that this duplex appears to be immediately rentable, this stands out to me (as a beginner) as a good deal. However, there are some things that don't make sense to me:

- The properties in the nearby area are listed for much more

- Judging by what I read on BP, most good deals are found off-market these days whereas this property is on the MLS

- This property has been listed for 6 weeks and is not even under contract, contingent, accepting backup offers, etc. If this was a good deal then it wouldn't last that long

- The description doesn't mention anything about the property needing work or TLC

Essentially what I'm asking is, what am I missing? Is this not actually a deal? Are my estimates off? Is there likely a major repair that the seller is trying to hide? Did this deal just slip through the cracks?

[Phil Anderson]

A couple of things:

1) Just because you are hearing something on BiggerPockets doesn't make it true for all metro areas or even all neighborhoods of all metro areas. Real Estate is hyper local, and deals do come on the MLS in Pittsburgh.

2) Have you seen the house in person?  I've seen a ton of amazing deals on paper, but when I visit I notice the house is held together with duct tape and it turns out they have no occupancy permit to be a triplex or whatever.

3) The fact that it's been on for 6 weeks does tell you for some reason investors in the area are not interested - because in my experience most multi-units have investors crawling all over them on the listing day, but that could be a variety of reasons and honestly I've seen many similar deals in the slopes over the years - only way to know for sure is go see it.  It looks vacant which tells you someone is having trouble renting it.