All Forum Posts by: Corey Depuy

@Brian Eastman I appreciate the advice. I think the reason I haven't gone the route of a financial advisor thus far, is for the exact reason you eluded to - every time I've spoken with one, I feel like I'm being sold.

This is definitely something that has newly popped in my head (literally in the last 24 hours), so I'm still vetting the viability of the option. To your point though, I am very fond of portfolio diversification and did not like the idea of pulling the large majority of my retirement funds into a single industry. I have not fully vetted the other options I have for money, but plan to do so as well.

@Steven Ko I like your attitude man! 

@Carl Fischer Thank you sir - I'll take note of your contact info and get with you offline. 

For clarification, lets assume I build a portfolio starting with a SDIRA over the next 10 years and I want to pull all of the assets and associated cash (and we'll say that I incur a 10% penalty for doing so). Do the properties then become untied to the now closed SDIRA, in which I would have the liberty to use excess cash as I see fit for my business or personal use?

I've been doing some research about rolling over my previous employer's 401k (which is currently stagnant with the same broker) into a SDIRA. I'm reading that all of the typical rules of a retirement fund apply, whereas it cannot be touched until the 59-1/2 age threshold. All funds relating to the REI (both income and expenses) must be tied directly to the SDIRA - no money can be taken for personal use.

This may seem self-explanatory, but does that mean that I will not be able to use this as a means of starting & expanding my RE journey, in hopes of retiring early and living off of the cash flow before the 59-1/2. I'm assuming that model would need to be done with non-retirement fund money (i.e. personal funds, private money, hard money)?

While only living here since 2010 and just starting to understand REI and all of the intricacies of the Pittsburgh market - take my comment with a grain of salt. I agree with @David Lee Hall, III that there is too much at play to give more than just speculation. I may say that because I look more at developments than data - data is historical, future developments create opportunity. Just my two cents.

That said, I agree with North Shore expansion to the surrounding areas, as that development continues & further comes underway. I also agree with @Samuel Vogt with Beechview and some of the surrounding areas of Dormont - Dormont has been up and coming and as younger generations look to settle down and migrate to suburbs, I'm partial to certain South Hills areas that haven't quite hit their stride yet.

But instead of just agreeing with everyone's previous comments, here is my curveball, a bit in line with what David stated about Moundsville. This is more of a long-term play and not necessarily a 4-7 year boom....but anywhere up and down the Ohio River (from Belmont County, OH to Pittsburgh), they are anticipating 5 cracker plants going up. In addition to Shell's current project - PTT and Exxon are already eyeing properties. I'm not as concerned about the cracker plants themselves (although that will bring jobs and housing demand) - but I'm looking at the bigger picture of petrochemical and plastics manufacturing, particularly up the 376 corridor towards New Castle/Sharon. A bit outside of Pittsburgh, I know...but it's worth noting the potential long-term development here.

And David, to your point about Moundsville's "why not" being the state of the energy industry - that is more of a supply/demand issue with both OPEC increasing output (although they're pulling back) and a significant lowering of demand due to COVID. Those are both oil issues, which actually helps nat gas commodity pricing (long story on why that's the case, but I'll save you all the boredom of my industry's dynamics) which is prevalent in this area. There are significant "why nots" though - specifically relating to the "climate change", "zero emissions", "no plastics", etc initiatives that are out there which would be more detrimental to these projects.

@Account Closed Might not be what you're looking for, but I wanted to give my opinion on something I know. I think your associates' differing opinions on so many neighborhoods being a possible "next Lawrenceville" are all potentially correct - it just takes one major company to come in and start development on an HQ somewhere....and there you have it, next big thing (you let us down Amazon!). Until something like that happens, I have a hard time believing that any particular neighborhood will be able to hold a candle to what happened in Lawrenceville. But again, I'll give the warning that I am no REI expert! lol

Like @Steven Ko stated, I would also like to hear your thoughts as well. 

While searching through some properties in my focused region, I came across a foreclosed property that was listed for ~$148,000 at the end of last year by Auction.com, but was later bought in Jan 2020 by FV-1 Inc for ~$13,000 (according to county assessments). Quick google searches show this to be a debt collect entity, but I was hoping someone could shed a little more light on this and help explain what exactly FV-1 Inc is.

Is that low purchase number helpful in how much they would be willing to accept....or should I disregard? Currently listed at $110k, so the numbers are all over the place. Only 2 pictures, so it's hard to tell how much rehab at this point, but ARV for this would be ~$150k.

Thanks in advance!

@Jeremy Taggart

Are you seeing Canonsburg demand dropping off any? I work in the oil/gas industry and while the recent events are actually beneficial to this region (long story on how -$40 oil is helpful), we've seen a significant decline in E&P activity for this area over the past 12 months. I'm sure there are other industries in play, but I know Canonsburg was a hot spot for oil/gas workers, so I curious to know what trends you're seeing from the real estate side.

@Tim Andy

Well done. While it doesn't sound like you hit the numbers you were aiming for, you at least pulled the trigger, learned some things, and stayed in the black! Forcing some appreciation with the BRRRR should help the numbers for sure moving forward.

I'll be looking to follow the same path this year and start out in similar areas. If you ever want to bounce ideas off of each other, let me know!

@Charles Carillo

Thanks. The company who posted appears to be a wholesaling franchise, and the property needs ~$20k rehab (my very inexperienced guess). This makes a bit more sense now - I'm guessing that this company found this property off-market and now this assignable contract is giving them sole rights to selling (assuming they can find a buyer). Kind of like a contract with a realtor for selling your personal home.

Sorry - still in the learning phase and while I'm mainly interested in buy/hold, it appears that I need to be more well-versed in the entire industry! Didn't realize the amount of crossover in the different sectors.

I've come across a property that is dubbed with the term "assignable contract". After some light internet research, it appears that this is a fancy way of saying "wholesale". Am I correct with that....or does this mean something completely different?

Appreciate any help with the terminology and uses!