All Forum Posts by: Brian Larson

Very cool.  Was it 1369 Oakhill Street?

Yep.  Carnegie Mellon is a huge factor.  The 2 biggest industries in the Pittsburgh Area are higher education and healthcare but given the low cost to live in the city, access to a major airport, sports franchises, and other cool features, I forsee a really positive future for this place.  I know that I'd live there and that's good enough for me to invest.

Plus, you can actually find things on the MLS that make financial sense to invest. I did not find this to be true in Indianapolis and Kansas City. I looked there too.

At this time, I think I have analyzed over 50 properties in and around the Pittsburgh Area.  As with most buyers, I wish I bought earlier but I really tried to make sure that this was a good fit for me and my family before I committed to it.

Let me know if you need anything.  I'm happy to share more info about Pittsburgh, ADUs, and other experiences.

Hi @Jimmy Liu- I live and work in San Jose.  I just made my first investment out-of-state (OOS) in the Pittsburgh Area. I highly recommend that location because it is a low-cost entry point for investment and has a good chance for appreciation in the coming decade.  CBRE recently placed it #8 on tech development and investment in the coming years.

Plus, I just fell in love with the place when I visited.  If you wanna connect with a good local investment realtor, I highly recommend speaking with @Max Feinberg.  He's been great.  I also have a property manager.  Send me a message if you want that info too.

I went through much of the same process that you describe above.  I looked all over the central valley for rentals.  Even with my self-representation as a licensed realtor to purchase something, nothing really made sense.  In other words, I could get better cash returns OOS so that's what I did.

Costs ended up not being what I expected. Thus, returns were not as good.

@Sean McKee - I second https://www.city-data.com/.  There are lots of options on the internet.

Just remember not to get analysis/paralysis.  :-) 

@Kamron Lewis - As someone who recently did this with a rental, I would say ... DON'T DO IT.  It blew up in my face.  Pay the money and submeter the space.

@Matthew Sweere - Your third option is the most likely right now. Despite what you may have heard about people leaving the Bay Area, it remains a really tight housing market. SFH in the areas you mentioned above are non-existent under a $1M right now.

Also, you should be very careful about subletting in California.  Most leases do not allow for it.  As a former property manager, I would never allow it.  However, I know lots of folks that still do this despite the terms of the lease.  I would caution you that you are taking on a lot of liability if you did this without your landlord's approval.  The biggest issue comes if you have to "evict" a subtenant.  It will be very, very hard to do this if you didn't have the legal right to rent to them from the beginning.

Anyway, good luck and all the best to your housing hacks.  If you pull it off, it will pay some big dividends.

Add a separate washer and dryer hook-up.  Layout and access matter if you want to get top dollar.

As a realtor, I have seen some washers/dryers set up nicely outside under a large overhang in the backyard so it is accessible to all.  It worked well and probably saved some money.  Is that an option for your situation?  Just a thought.

As a San Jose Realtor, I second @Ramsin Jacob's comments about SFH. The returns would be better. Good luck.

@Steve Smith - ADU = Accessory Dwelling Unit (aka Mother-in-law unit)