Possible first deal looking for some input - Philadelphia area

[Chris Kreider]

Hello everyone!

I am looking at what could be my first deal ever in my real estate in career. I am looking at a buy and hold opportunity for getting some nice passive income. It is a triplex in a lower quality area outside of Philadelphia, known as Norristown. I have some friends that are investing there and I am working with a realtor they recommended. The realtor has a client that has some properties that are offlist that he is looking to sell as he is an older gentlemen and looking to get out of the business and move to Florida. A close friend of mine already bought one of his properties. The triplex is currently fully rented for a total of $2125 per month. The seller is asking for $130k for the property and is also offer to do seller financing at between 4.5-5% (this is what the realtor told me, we still have to work out all the particulars) if I chose to go this route. I still have to work out key points like that, and I am having a contractor friend of mine do a walk through with me later in the week to let me know his thoughts on the property and what work it may need and anything he may think could be an issue with the property. The taxes on the property are $2377 per year. It seems like it could be a very good cash flow opportunity.

To bullet point the specs of the property to make it easier to follow

-$130k asking price

-Seller financing offered

-2008 square ft

-3 1 bed/1bath units

-Taxes $2377 per year (includes trash pick up)

- Currently rents for total o$f 2125 - Tenant pays all utilities except water/sewer

-oil heat

-I need to find out what type of lease he has in place with current tenants and find out a bit about them and how long they have been there.

I need to research the seller financing aspects to find out if there are closing costs involved (I am not sure exactly how that works), actual interest rate straight from the sellers mouth, not just the realtor. I also need to figure out what he is looking for down money, but If 20% I can easily cover that so I am not that overly concerned with that aspect.

I would greatly appreciate any input from members and what other pieces of the equation I may be missing and need to look for or ask. I am not well versed on seller financing and if there are downsides to that as opposed to getting a conventional or business loan. If anyone can elaborate on that I would be very thankful as well. I look forward to reading your input!

Thank you kindly,

Chris

[Vana G.]

I'm so excited for you!

A good tip I got recently on these forums: ask for the rent roll for the last year to see how much rent was actually collected (if tenants are actually paying) and to see vacancy rate. I suspect with 3 - 1/1's turnover may be high?

Drive the neighborhood in middle of the day to see if this "lower quality" area is a "working class neighborhood" (people caring for their homes) or just bad neighborhood (people hanging outside during work hours), it will make a difference come 'pay rent' time. Listen to Podcast 54 with Lisa Phillips, gives a good explanation of the differences.

Personally, I would be nosy and try to find out why the owner is moving to Florida, what he plans to do for cash here, and why he is selling. If this one property is cash flowing 2125/m, y not hire a property management co and keep his cash flow? Either way, you may pick up on any inconsistencies just by asking more questions.

Good luck!