All Forum Posts by: Nicholas Weckstein

Hi @Michael Echeverri ! 

That is most certainly a way that investors pull money for down payments. You can absolutely tap into home equity to use for investing. I can recommend a bank I used that had very attractive rate and terms recently. I currently invest in PA, but from New York originally and now I live here to self manage. Lets connect !

Hey everyone ! 

Figured id reach out here to all my fellow Wilkes Barre/Scranton investors to see how everyone is doing now that covid restrictions have died down. What is your take on the market? For us we are seeing that the rents have stabilized and seem to be holding, which is great news! Rents have finally caught up with the times now. We even got some great appreciation as did most other markets. As for future values I think we have room to continue growing

I think everyones next question is/was...will it last? is it a bubble? 

I truly feel that NEPA, specifically Luzerne and Lackawanna counties were lagging behind for years in terms of pricing and rents, and honestly even wages. Wages have increased significantly. 

NEPA has always weathered the storms well and been shielded from bubbles. So much new investment and jobs have been coming to the county. I feel that the outlook for the next 5 years is great!

Ive always pointed out the fact that hazleton, and the Poconos have prices and rental rates considerably higher and are close enough that we should benefit from it. 

Last month I had the pleasure of getting together with a group of guys from Jesery, New York and PA for a networking meeting in scranton. Would love to hold another one in the near future. 

I have had this happen a few times, as long as you were within the date for the financing contingency. You should be okay. In the past when a seller didn't want to release funds to me, ive had a lawyer type up a letter and send to them. They usually release the money immediately. Not sure how much your deposit is, but I doubt its worth the time to the seller to get caught up in court costs and lawyer fees over a few grand. 

When did you/your agent send over the disapproval? if it was on the 9th you should be fine. I suppose if it was a few days later then they feel like they have a leg to stand on, they could be right. but usually a letter from a lawyer scares them away from the fight. 

best of luck, hope it all works out!

Hey everyone! Been a while since I’ve posted but have been busy.

I’ll get right to it.

Just purchased a mixed use commercial building and I’m looking for creative ways outside of living/business units to add a nominal passive income from the place.

The building is on a main road. I sat out front and counted cars for 5 min straight during peak time. We estimated about 100 cars every 5 min from my partner and I counting (each counted one direction) which would equate to about 1000-1200 cars per hour we went with 12-14k cars per day which we felt was a safe conservative number.

There is a advertising sign on the building on the side with is very visible while driving with a big light over it. Something that a prospective tenant would use to advertise the business at the location day or night. Im occupying the space with my business now and don’t need location based advertising.

I’d like to rent the billboard out. It’s a 4Hx8W sign. Im trying to figure how much to ask for such a billboard rental. Any suggestions?

Note: the sign is only visible when traveling one direction

I’m thinking of asking $150 a month with a 3 month lease pay in full or $125 w a 6 month lease paid in full. Month to month would be $200

Anyone think that’s to high or low? Location matters and this is on a very main road that travels through 2 counties, in many cities and has a lot of daily use.

Also going to make a few storage units in the building and rent those out. I only need some of the space not all of it. The goal is an extra $500

Thanks for reading!

@Esteban Medina thought I’d put my “2 cents” in here as I actually just terminated a contract due to a basement issue.

So, we had a 3 unit building with one of the units being a basement unit. Separate entrance and all.

The appraiser wouldn’t recognize it as a unit because it was below grade.

Not saying that will happen to you. But just be mindful if you are hoping to add value through a basement unit.

You may or may not have that issue down the line.

AWESOME! house hacking can be great! takes a bit of getting used to. can be a great way to get into properties.  So I guess you WILL be living there lol..but its not forever and if the numbers work and there's value add ...go for it!

Thats a bit of a broad question because there are a few diff calculations involved but...

Spread sheets

take the purchase price write it down

take the repair costs...write it down

gross rental income after its repaired...write it down

holding costs...write em down 

ARV write it down

Consider how much its going to cost you to buy, fix, and hold...cross reference that to how much you want to pull out in a mortgage afterwards. consider what interest rate you're going to pay.

example 

purchase price - 100k

repairs - 50k 

holding costs (3 mo) - 2k 

gross rents after repair -1800

ARV - 225k

say you pull out 70% of the Arv your getting $157.5k so basically cost you next to nothing to do

calculate your monthly mortgage payment, all expenses and operating cost say that comes to 1400. 

try to reverse engineer it, practice on properties you find on the market that need work. get familiar with these types of calculations 

Remember, its a rental...you don't have to live there. As was said already, if this was a single family id be cautious, but seeing as its a rental, I don't think it will matter to much. If the numbers work, that's what matters. 

as for your exit strategy, buy right and selling shouldn't be a problem. Most others investors see the numbers before anything else....they will be the ones you sell to in the future. 

I am curious though...3.5% down and still cash flowing 1000$ per month?! what do the numbers look like?

@Christian Powell In my experience agents never really know what the repair costs are. and if they do...they undershoot. Id be cautious, verify the capital needed to bring it to market value. You say you know the area so that's a plus, find comps to justify the ARV. If all checks out, consider doing the deal yourself. wholesaling it could work too! if the deal has that much meat on it, you should be able to find a buyer pretty easily.

best of luck!

@Kai Van Leuven Think at this point theirs not much else I can do. As much as I was ready to close, maybe its for the best. Spoke with the appraiser and bank today...bank says if I get them the documents from the county and township showing its an approved 3 unit, she can appeal it to the appraiser. Well she also pointed out that the appeal will just go to the same appraiser...I spoke with him again and sent him the same documentation, he's holding his ground based on the square footage. 

super interesting my agent pulled something from I guess the tax collectors office...talk about confusing....the document she sent me has it marked as FOUR units LOL. BUT...1600 sq ft...which is just the first floor and 2 units. 

appraiser said only way he will change it is if we get the assessment changed. Owner doesn't want to budge and even sent over a signed termination today. Think its time to just move forward and to the next one. Cant say I didn't try. 

he won't come off 140 at all.