All Forum Posts by: Bob Mastroianni

I am working on a deal for a multi-family that is in an area where it could also be a great location for student housing. I am looking for opinions from those who have rented to students in the past.

Since the property has multiple rooms, do you sign separate leases for each student or do you place them on the same lease as a Group Lease? And, how many parent signatures (co-signer's) do you require for each student?

What is the best time of year to advertise the available unit(s)? What month do you normally turn your leases over?

Do you have any additional rules or items in a lease for your student rentals that you do not normally include in your standard leases?

I appreciate any feedback. Thanks!

Bob

Hi @Jake Thomas, Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it. I was intentionally a little vague with my numbers. When making a purchase, I definitely take things like repairs, cap-ex & vacancy into consideration. The intent of my post was really to learn about any process or opportunity to take over the property with little or no money down.

Hi Fellow BPer's,

I need some assistance/advice on a possible acquisition of a property. The scenario is this. A couple purchased their home a little over 2 years ago. It was their first home & they purchased it with FHA Financing. Purchase price was $150,000. Here they are a little more than 2 years into the home & they just can't make it work. Their financial situation changed and they are struggling to keep the house. They came to me for help & basically just want to be able to get out of the home & move on with their lives. I want to help & I also know that there is potential in the property for growth. Comps right now are showing that the property could probably sell for around $180,000 - $190,000. And rents in the area are about $1,300 - $1,500 (would clear around $400 - $600/mo). I am looking to acquire the property for the least amount of money out-of-pocket possible.

I considered assuming the FHA Loan, but it is my understanding that in order to assume an FHA Loan, I would need to live in the property (FHA Guidelines). That's not possible for me. Is there any other was to assume the loan from FHA.

Other options that I have considered:

 - Could I gain a position on the title, pay the mortgage for a few months (6 - 9) until I have seasoning on the mortgage and refinance it? (Is so, how would I do that)

 - Based on the value vs. comps, is there a way that I could buy it for $150,000 with no money down as an investment?

I would appreciate any help and info that you could provide.

Thanks, 

Bob

Welcome to BP @Michael Gatti ! Philadelphia is definitely a city of neighborhoods. There is a lot of great progress happening in the city. I would recommend starting close to your home or in neighborhoods that you have a strong familiarity with. Make sure that you feel comfortable with the area. Best of Luck to You!!!

Hi @Greg Torian Welcome to Bigger Pockets! I'm not too far from you. New Jersey is one of the highest taxed states when it comes to RE taxes, which always seems to be a big obstacle when it comes to analyzing deals. Just keep analyzing deals & you'll find one that works.

Best of Luck to you!

I have a couple of buy & holds in that area. There are a lot of great places in Port Richmond & the city is putting money into changing Richmond St for the better. My only concern continues to be comps from the other side of Aramingo Ave. If you are going to look into any sort of traditional financing, you will have a difficult time with comps, as the zip code 19134 has a wide variety of neighborhoods. I would continue to buy & hold in that area, but am not sure about the quick flip right now.

Hi @Catherine Sells I came across this post today while search for potential wholesaler lists in the Philadelphia Area. Does your office have a list that I can sign up for? If so, what is the process to become a part of your that buyer's list?

Hi @Lindsay Denny & welcome to BP. I'm fairly new to this place also, but am quickly learning that there are a ton of great resources. Take advantage of all of the great networking opportunities & the conversations in the forums. There is a lot of really good education on here & you won't have to pay someone thousands for it.

I have flipping & buy and hold experience in Philadelphia. It's a really good market to grow in right now. One "Quick Tip", make sure that you are accurate & up-to-date with everything related to permitting in Philly. L & I is more aggressive than ever in the city, it's not worth the time, money & headache to try to skip any of those steps.

Best of Luck!

When I bought my first multi-family, the tenants that I acquired were used to a system when the landlord would visit them on the 1st of every month (or whenever he could make it) and pick up the rent from them. Some paid by cash and some paid by check. I followed along with the same process for a short amount of time & realized that this put all of the responsibility on me. I had to make sure I went there to pick the rents up. And, after collecting the checks/cash, I had the responsibility to go make the deposits & wait for the checks to clear. This process was costing me time & money (I had to drive to the location & pay a toll to get there).

After about a year, I decided to look for a good option that would help to streamline this process. I started using www.erentpayment.com and I am really happy with it. I have been using it for about 5 years. My tenants adjusted to it well. They can set up Auto-Pay if they choose to. I have the system send them a reminder on the 28th of every month about their upcoming rent payment. It automatically adds in any late fees, if necessary & I get an email as soon as my tenants make their payment.

There is a $3 fee for each transaction that you can either pay, have the tenant pay or split between the landlord and tenant. I chose to pay it, which makes the tenants feel like they're getting a benefit from using. I can also run reports that show all of my transactions, which is great at tax time.

I hope this helps.

Thanks for this explanation @Steve Babiak . I was doing  search on Auction terminology in PA & this was very helpful.