All Forum Posts by: Dan Marriggi

Quote from @Jeremiah Phipps:

Let's keep our number simple. Let's say you purchase a property for a $100000. And your renovation costs are $50000. Now you're into this project for $150000. And let's say you're ARV (you're after repair value) Is $300000 And let's say you're using your own cash. And not using a hard money lenders or gap funders. So now you add $35000 for your closing.( That is both purchase and sale of property) So now you're into the property for a 185000. Your profit will be $115000. That is roughly 62% ROI On your investment, that is why people who get into real estate and become millionaire... Now depending on how financially blessed you are, you could potentially do this 4 times a year. That is an infinite ROi

All true ! But those deals are difficult to find. The original poster is brand new.

Quote from @Todd Holman:

Look for places that are investor friendly, have expanding growth and still have a relatively low housing cost such as Florida.  Today we're seeing younger people and families leave colder areas for warmer climates.

I'd stay away from Florida for now. Lots of issues with HOA, insurance, natural disasters etc.

Jane - Great questions.
Regarding the U - They recently broke ground for another new building - I think they will be around for awhile. They also have a very rich donor as well as others.

The properties in the area typically did not appreciate well - they did cash flow however.
Since C19, prices have jumped significantly. This makes cash flowing properties hard to come by imo.
Several of my local investor club buddies are sitting on the sidelines, selling some inventory and building a cash hoard.
Happy to help with info - as always - do your due diligence and do not blindly listen to some random poster on web sites.
Good luck

NO !

Also remember that prior to Covid, Appreciation of our RE here was not great.
We were a cash flow market NOT an appreciation market. I don't believe we will see the price jumps going further. Probably a more normalized market gain of a few percent per year.

I think you should find a turnkey property as mentioned and hold it.
I'm happy to help if you have any questions or if you want to run some numbers.

Welcome Brandon - I have properties here in the wyoming valley.
I am a native to the area.
Scranton has many hoops to jump as an investor - esp. an out of the area investor.
One is you'd have to hire a property manager if you do not live in the city of Scranton or within 20 miles of the city.

Real estate taxes are high -that plus the current interest rate and ask prices makes cash flow an issue.

You can find "deals" but please do your due diligence.
Here is an example of a potential deal I am evaluating in the hill section of the city: 20 y/o, 2000 sq ft. 3b/3bath TH - Needs paint, new carpeting, and general wear and tear repairs after a 4 year tenant. Ask price off market: $250K, No HOA, rents approx: $1900-2100/month, RE taxes approx : 7400/year, Property insurance : $1200/year, Misc fees trash,rent registration etc : $400 / year
Evaluate this and let me know your thoughts.

Al - 

Trust but verify all information. Due your DD independently.

Speak with other investors in the area.

good luck..

Buyer beware !!!! Expensive lesson learned.

If you are looking to invest in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area please do you own DD as suggested above. Information is power and there is a lot available for anyone willing to look deep enough.

In December 2023, Scranton home prices were up 16.7% compared to last year, selling for a median price of $175K. On average, homes in Scranton sell after 28 days on the market compared to 20 days last year. There were 54 homes sold in December this year, down from 67 last year.
Multiple offers are rare.
Currently, The average homes sell for about 2% below list price and go pending in around 29 days.

Really nice homes can sell for about 3% above list price and go pending in around 9 days

To get the best deal - buy off market not retail overpriced MLS properties listed by Realtors who receive their listings only because they gave the seller an overinflated, unrealistic price - These properties languish on the market and then get reduced to a price that's more in line with reality -and above all DO NOT use a Realtor !

Make your offer directly to the seller. If you happen to see a property listed on MLS - go directly to the listing agent - Do Not use a buyers agent.

Good luck and make sure you are checking the median incomes of the areas you are prospecting.

Quote from @Amanda M.:

@Steve Ford - I use the free app DealCheck to run my analysis because it has all the line items in there so I don't forget an expense. Sometimes it provides estimates, but usually you need to input them. 

I'm not in your market, but once I had specific properties identified I called around to get quotes for lawn, pest, and internet, and then got average monthly expenses for utilities and added a buffer to get my OpEx.

DealCheck is not free