All Forum Posts by: Catherine McElwain

Welcome!  I'm also in WC and would love to meet up sometime!  My husband and I have done some flips and have 3 rentals, but still feel like newbies because we are new to PA.  My husband is from Allentown and his brother lives there - they may have some info to share on locations if needed.  

Good luck in your journey!

Can we talk about Section 8 a little more here?  Now that it has been 6 months since the voucher amount increases, what has changed for people?  Are there "enough" Section 8 approved rentals?  Is anyone actually getting towards the top end of the voucher max?  Are any investors seeing any benefits with the voucher amount increase?

Who out there is doing this in Philly?

We have one Section 8 property in West Chester and it's been great.  Vetting the tenant seems to be the biggest predictor of success.  

Hi Karyn - wanted to chime in and say hello because I am also in Philly 'burbs and a nurse practitioner! I'm not in the STR game, but do flips. And starting BRRRR.

Would be happy to chat anytime!

Welcome! I have a similar story - health care for 30 years, looking to scale via BRRRR. We have done several flips and are working on one now

Where are you looking to invest?

Hi Ryston!  I own a rowhome near Temple that my daughter lives in and we rent out the other 3 rooms.  I'm noticing around Temple that there are a fair number of vacancies in rental properties.  My daughter says that enrollment is down at Temple, largely attributed to crime in the area

I would imagine that a new construction property is probably pretty nice, and that will appeal to more renters.  Are you intending to rent to students?  If so, one downside is turnover - you would likely have different tenants every year.  

Will this cash flow at all?  

Appreciation is tough in this area.  Our place has had 0 appreciation in 3 years.  I wonder if new construction will appreciate better?  

I'm in the same boat!  I'd love to find something like this.  Would be happy to chat about being part of an accountability group and also trade stories.  My husband and I have a rental in Denver suburbs and flipped 4 houses up in Black Hawk.  We moved to PA and are wanting to seriously scale our real estate investing here through flips and BRRRRs.  

Look for local REI groups. The Denver REIA group looks active.

I agree with Jordan, your agent is the best in coming up with comps and ARV. When I'm getting a rough estimate, I use zillow "sold" properties in the past 6 months. If there isn't enough out there in the previous 6 months, you can look in the past 12 months.

Quote from @Account Closed:

1. How does a FSBO handle an open house?

2. Besides the FSBO website, are there any other sites that can help educate me and provide me with needed documents?

3. Can a FSBO place their house on MLS?

We have done this 3 times - once was a failure and we then listed with a realtor.  It's a lot of work.  
1.  I handled all the phone calls and we held our own open houses.  We advertised the open houses in the MLS listing (see #3).  
2.  each state has their own paperwork for contracts/selling, and can be found online.  I don't know specific websites otherwise - it's been a while. 
3.  Yes, you can get on MLS by using a flat fee FSBO service.  You pay a flat rate (but there are often add-ons), you create the listing/wording and take great pictures, you send it to the company, they put it on MLS.  You should put in your listing what you will pay the buyer's realtor for a co-op.  If you aren't paying the buyer's agent, it will be difficult to get anyone to show your property to their buyers.  

Also willing to chat anytime! My spouse and I have been flipping and acquiring rentals on a small scale, and we are starting to make REI our thing. Always so much to learn. We have a rental near Temple, one in Chester County and one in Colorado. Philly is still a bit mysterious to me given the rental licensing and learning the ins and outs of city regulations.

I'm in WC.  Rentals are in demand here.  WC is great - great schools, lower taxes.  

Is the HOA a high cost?