Lehigh valley advice

[Lloyd Preece]

Hi team, I'm looking to add a 3rd property to my portfolio this year and identified the Lehigh Valley as a good location to expand to. I'm currently house hacking in Weehawken, NJ (Working in NYC) and looking for a small Multifamily(~200k) buy and hold rental next. Lehigh Valley seems attractive due to Price to Rent ratios, significantly lower taxes than NY/NJ, geographic proximity to NYC/Philly, jobs in area (Amazon warehouses, fedex etc). Have also read good things about the downtowns of the likes of Bethlehem, but its difficult to narrow down neighborhoods without knowing the area too well. Looking for recommendations on neighborhoods to dive deeper into within the area in that price range, as well as connections and general advise from those who have invested in the area. Would appreciate any help!

[Lloyd Preece]

To provide an update here, the market is very hot. I've put in offers over the last 6 months between $130k-200K for MFs and SFs mainly in Bethlehem but also in Allentown. Usually at around asking price. There is plenty of cashflowing opportunities out there at around 7% cap rates and most MF inventory at that price point is in Allentown. I've offered on over 10 properties so far and been outbid every time unfortunately. Patience is key with this market and you may need to go over asking to secure an MLS deal.

Thankfully I have a fantastic investor friendly agent in Ronald Bowser https://www.biggerpockets.com/..., who provides timely and very detailed feedback on properties I enquire about. V good finger on the pulse on investment properties in the LV and has a few rentals himself. He makes it very easy for out of state investors and critically, will also turn me off properties where he doesn't believe there is good value or investor potential which is also incredibly important for long distance investors. Would recommend him to anyone looking for Buy and Hold in the area.