All Forum Posts by: Phil Anderson

All of the neighborhoods are what you'd be looking for - I'd probably add Mt Washington, Squirrel Hill, Lawrenceville, Friendship, Bloomfield, Strip District and Oakland to your search.

This is one topic I'd love for people to be open on here - is there a property management company you use and love?  I've had some bad experiences with mine, but it's unclear whether that's par for the course or they are not good.

I've never heard of any of these companies, but always on the lookout for a good one, hopefully folks will post their reviews publicly!

The Hazelwood one is the one I have the most hope for, unfortunately investors have been staking claims in Homewood for a while now.  That said, it still has a good location that I could definitely see being brought up with all the new development.

@Jim K. can you elaborate what specifically makes much older properties money pits from your experience?  Even old houses have had water heaters, roofs etc replaced.  Trying to think what would cause additional maintenance in extremely old houses compared to 70s ones.   You can look for thinks like old electrical and foundation issues when buying, and everything else seems like the same problems you'd have in newer houses (except those tend to be less well built)

Brookline is the one that stands out the as best of the options you mentioned.  It's possible to get young professionals there and has a high amount of renters.  I think the area is likely to have decent appreciation as well.  The other ones are kind of old people neighborhoods with lots of old stock single family homes.

The area may cash flow well but unlikely to have much appreciation.  I'm curious who are you using for Property Management for your remote ownership?  (PM if you want)

Sharpsburg is the most "up and coming" of those, but be aware almost the entire town is in a FEMA flood zone. Look at the maps and pay close attention to where the property is on the flood plane as that can easily blow up your numbers with flood insurance.

I have a mid-high end house I've had in a popular area in an allegedly hot market, but it's unsold after 5 months, and I'd love some fresh eyes for a second opinion.

Are there any flippers in the area that would be willing to spend an hour (paid) to give their tips to help move it?  PM me if so (with some info about what you've sold previously).

3.3% CD?  The only thing close I can find are 5 year CDs for 3.0% - 5 year lock in for cash seems bad given rising interest rates and current inflation.  That said you are right - if real estate really was a magic unlock for 20% returns guaranteed Wall St would be all over it (well the already are but that's another story...).  

First, in some ways, real estate isn't that much different that other investments - you can buy and sell deals on houses just like you buy and sell deals on stocks.  If you followed Motley Fool instead of BiggerPockets you'd hear the same kind of enthusiasm over stocks.  A few people will get lucky, time the market perfectly and make huge returns compared to the other 90% that get into it that will do worse than the S&P 500.

In other ways Real Estate is different though - first "Everyone will always need housing" unlike Bitcoin or Pork Belly Futures.  The value of a house is also almost never going to go to zero. There are also tax advantages that are different than other investments.  Also most importantly you can leverage debt to buy Real Estate much easier than other investments. Try doing BRRR on your CD.

But finally I think you have to enjoy real estate. If you are looking for investments where you just put cash and get returns, you can get into Real Estate by investing in an REIT.