All Forum Posts by: Nicholas Weckstein

That I guess will depend on the market you are in, or are willing to invest in. For me, I would take that 50k and buy a 3-4 unit building in my county and cash flow after all expenses and reserves  about $1,000.00 per month. For you im not sure exactly what 50k will get you in your area. Are you willing to invest out of state ? if so you can look for value add opportunities anywhere. I also try not to buy for appreciation because cash flow is what puts food on the table. You could attempt a flip with financing if you have the knowledge and contacts to do so. Use that to continue to grow your nest egg towards a bigger acquisition. 

Congrats ! Sounds like a big move and a great property! 

We are seeing the same thing here! just such a competitive rental market. Apartments are gone just as quick as they are listed. 

@Ryan Potuck The market has been crazy over the past year needless to say. I realized how many under market units I had, lots of long term tenants. Which are worth the weight in gold. I prefer to keep my units on the lower end of market rent. Keeps tenants around and happy.

We currently see rents as follows depending on amenities and location

1 bed - 650-800

2 bed - 750-900

3 bed 875-1100

The big spread is obviously based on location and what the unit offers. So it does vary greatly. I hardly see any 3 bedroom units going for less than 950 now days. 

I am so glad you said that! @Ryan Potuck because I feel the same way about Luzerne County. It is A gem, and with a considerably larger population than Lackawanna county. We have a lot going for us, the industrial estate jobs just keep growing and hospital and hospitality is booming. 

personally for me as an investor I dont much like investing in the city of Wilkes Barre itself. Not that there isn't great return, however I feel that a lot of locals prefer to live in the towns outside of Wilkes Barre. but overall the immediate area has loads of potential. I like Hanover Township, Kingston, back mountain or mountain top areas. a few others too. 

The potential is just waiting to pop, there's also plenty of amusement and lots of big investments coming into the county. in my years studying the area I can tell we we have seen growth in the past 3 years that hasn't been seen in the past 20!

lets connect! Trying to get another meet up put together maybe for late September with a few guys who invest in the county.

Hi @Ryan Chatman ! While I might be slightly biased because it is my market of choice. We enjoy some of the highest cap rates in most markets. The price point is a strong driving factor as well. We have gotten loads of investment in jobs for our county. (Luzerne). I actually published a report all about Luzerne county you can see it here  -Free Report on the multifamily market in Luzerne county PA. 

There is a growing wage base, a lot of people from the tri state area have migrated and bought up and fixed up quite a lot of properties. With a casino, hotels, shopping, dinning, amusement, etc...I think it is a great long term play. In the mean time enjoy that cash flow. We can regularly exceed the "1% rule". 

Ive long considered getting into the Pocono real estate market, but hard for me to justify when I can buy a property for under 160k that makes a net profit of $1,000.00 per month. the cash on cash is amazing. to make that return in Monroe county you are spending more than that!

 @Kristen Brandner Absolutely ! that makes sense. Truthfully I stopped using Zillow to post rentals because for me in my area I found that I would get LITERALLY hundreds of leads and 90% were bad. Trying to sort through all of that was too much. We have had great luck using the Facebook market place and local Facebook groups. It is how we do all of our rentals now. In fact most people in our area use Facebook or craigslist. Hope it all works out! I think the 6 month term is a good idea! 

hi @Kristen Brandner ! 

Thats a tricky one. Personally I'm hesitant to accept a years rent upfront because of the implications if a lease was to be broken. Say you wanted to evict because of a major issue, well the tenant is paid up on rent. It makes me wonder WHY anyone would want to pay a years rent upfront. If you have the money just hold onto it and use it to pay rent. I suppose that it might be because of their situation, however. 

My other question is, where is this property located.. you are asking 2k per month rent and have only had 4 inquiries in a month? Do you think maybe the rent is a bit much then? Could you afford to say drop it to 1800 and maybe get a pool of better candidates ?

Hope it all works out for you. Sometimes you do need to take a chance on a tenant.