All Forum Posts by: David Cochran

Not sure if this is what your looking for, but try brtweb.phila.gov, property information, search for a property. It has a lot of the same information as the Montgomery county link you listed. There's also a link from there to the property tax info and another one for L&I information. Philadelphia R.E. Tax site can be accessed directly at http://www.phila.gov/revenue/realestatetax/ 

Other than HD and Lowes, I've had good dealings with Cooper Electric (formerly Ciro's) on 18th and Jackson in South Philly. They have quality products at reasonable prices. An electrical contractor friend of mine, who does a lot business with them, gets even better prices. So if you plan on using them often, you may be able to get even better deals.

Colonial electric is another popular spot in Philly, that my employer uses alot. It's a school district account, so I can't speak to prices, but they're really helpful and can get you anything you need for any job. 

Billows and Rumsey are two other electric supply houses that I use at work, but I don't have too much first hand knowledge on them. 

Use market value, that is the City's determination of the value of the property. You can also go to http://avicalculator.phila.gov. This will give you an estimated tax value for previous, current and 2017 tax value. I would alway use the values from the taxing authority itself over 3rd party sites like realtor.com and other similar sites or those listed by the seller.

@thoai Han, maybe I don't understand the terminology, I thought buy and hold meant purchase and keep long term. It sounds like it means buy, hold for a year and sell, is that the case? if so, I meant buying and keeping to build a portfolio. Flipping does sound great too, although I have found less on this subject. Could you give me a link or two to get me educated on that aspect of REI?

Hello everyone,

I have been viewing post and podcasts for a few months now and find it very interesting and informative, great site. I am interested in several areas of real estate investing, it seems like, the more I read, the more I keep learning about the different ways to invest. My original interest was in multi-family (Duplex-fourplex) buy and hold and is still where I am leaning to start. I look forward to hearing your thoughts in the future