All Forum Posts by: Annette Schneider

If you want to know, who truly supports you and who believes you can better yourself - let them know your going to invest into income properties. 

My family was worried about it initially. They just wanted to make sure we went in with our eyes open. They listened when we went over the numbers, our plans and asked relevant questions.They don't assume we are slumlords or awful people. They have faith that we will make good decisions and I can call on them for advice. They are happy to hear about our success. 

Some of his family have been very unsupportive and snarky about his real estate investments. 

When phone screening: I like to ask people if they are familiar with the area the apartment is in, it tends to spark a conversation where people reveal things about themselves: good and/or bad. I often catch people in lies about why they are moving or if they have pets, etc.  I don't do this to catch people in a lie, I'm actually making sure they know its not in the more desirable neighborhood next door that shares the same zip code.   Some very busy folks could care less about the area and that's often that's a great thing.  A specialist in medical residency training that rarely home or professional that needs a weeknight apartment but goes home on the weekends. Lots of insights gained with that question. 

Any tips on getting tenants to read their lease? Sure we can make them comply but it would be nice if they knew what was in their lease so we aren't the 'bad guy' enforcing aspects of the lease they were willfully unaware of. I'm pondering if there is a way of adding some sort of 'brown M&M' clause hidden in the lease so that we know who actually read the whole lease. Some little hidden nugget in the lease that is trivial that makes it obvious that they read the lease. 

Pittsburgh metro areas vary widely from around 2% to over 5% property tax costs. The areas we invest in are around the 3% +/- .5% property tax costs. We have county, municipality and school property taxes with the biggest chunk of property taxes going to school districts. You can find all the millage rates at the allegheny county (PA) real estate website. 

 You really can't get a solid estimate of renovation cost until you tour the property and talk with a contractor.  Touring the property will also give you an indication if the property will be as desirable to renters as it appears on paper.  All it takes is one crazy neighbor, abandoned building with homeless squatting in it or just a large population of rats and other vermin living in it to scare away potential tenants to the building you want to invest in. When analyzing the deal, I would also compute actual property tax rates (don't rely on seller figures) and check to see if the property is in a flood zone. The properties worth is also driven by real estate value not just income potential. A cash buyer can scoop up the property with no mortgage to pay per month will have a far lower operating expense.   

Since we self manage our units, we prefer to stay close to home thus we prefer Sharpsburg, Ross/West View and Etna/Millvale areas for buy and hold units.  Fox Chapel and North Hills school districts are solid while Shaler School district is still thought of as good but ratings were slipping for a while. 

 Have you tried to look for a leak? Why not break out a hose to see if the window is leaking? You can also see if water pools in that area. Perhaps the basement or exterior wall was not sealed correctly after the electric, gas or water was split to be metered per unit. We had that problem near the water inlet in an old basement made of fieldstone also. A bit of hydraulic cement patched it up correctly and it's doing fine now. 

@Adam Abdel-Hafez I have the opposite attitude towards interior french drains. This area has a lot of problems with water in basements. I prefer to see interior french drains with a sump pump in older homes built into a hillside. If there is not one there, I assume there are water problems being hidden or there will be water problems in the future. I know it scares a lot of buyers but I see it as similar to having new windows or roof.  

The only 'gift' we leave is a refrigerator/freezer thermometer in the fridge so new tenants can get the fridge and freezer set right especially after we turn it to barely on when the unit is empty for a bit. We had a lot of 'fridge doesn't work' calls only to find the fridge and freezer set to warmest setting and tenants pretending to be ignorant of how to use a fridge. Leaving the thermometer seems to make encourage folks to adjust it themselves. Since every tenant has taken the thermometer with them, I guess they are gifts that we give out. 

If a unit is empty for a bit and a new tenant is not lined up, I usually buy a dollar store toilet brush and plunger if I find a unit doesn't have one when turned over. That way if there is an accidental clog I'm prepared and there is a brush handy to do a quick clean on the toilet if needed. I leave those in place along with making sure there is a roll or two of toilet paper and paper towels to dry hands. I leave the flyers or menus for the local pizza and chinese food places that I know are good/reliable (a lot of pop up pizza places in our area that fail). 

I do like the idea of cookies - need to find a cookie lady to help us with that. 

Much of the Pittsburgh Metro area has more housing than demand for it. A vacant property without a SFH on it is usually not developed for lack of demand or location issues (flood zone or inability to put a structure on the land). Most new homes, townhomes and apartments are being built in the far suburbs with good school districts. In my opinion there are enough new homes being built to meet current demand. There may be an opportunity to fill niche housing such as tiny homes or green homes but there are companies working those strategies already in Allegheny county. There are some areas where there are revitalization programs to attract investors but those areas with the incentives are also usually the areas with the most crime. If you are going to stay in Israel, you might do better becoming a partner of a flipper or spec builder or become a private lender.

We focused on areas that are a short drive from us that we are familiar with. We've learned to also be aware of zoning laws and to compute real estate taxes ourselves. Do you really want to buy a property that has been altered in an area that does not require permits?  You could focus on properties near the T to attract downtown professionals as renters. Normal location issues apply to investment properties also:  busy road, train tracks, next to volunteer fire department, etc. If you see a property that interests you, drive past it during the day and also early evening to get a feel for safety, parking availability and how many people are going to and from work each day. Every good borough has its less desirable area (next to sewage treatment perhaps) and every bad area has its safer portions. Our current strategy is to buy rental properties in good school districts: partly for appreciation and also due to demand for housing in good school districts. Best of luck!