All Forum Posts by: Elise Bickel Tauber

I agree with Jeremey Taggart. I would keep it as a rental and when you have enough equity to do a HELOC I'd go that route. The rental market in the mid to higher price range is a bit lacking so having a rental in that range should go quickly. I would consult a real estate agent or property manager on the price for the rental even if you plan to self rent and manage. You can also use sites like rentometer to help confirm your rent price. You may be under or over as the market continues to shift!

I've been having this conversation lately with a lot of the owners I work with as well as those who self-manage. For a long time, the mindset for investors has been to get the highest rents possible on their units. That has led them to continue to jack up rent prices and often, push out good tenants for the sake of an extra $100/month. I think this way of thinking is a bit foolish and can leave thousands on the table.

When I'm looking to process a renewal, whether for my own investments or for my clients, I start by completing an analysis on the tenant. Are they a good paying tenant? Do they have a lot of repairs called in? Damage to the property? Are they a pain in the butt? If I had the option to rent to them again would I? 

Once I've done that analysis, I do one on the property itself. If the tenant were to leave, what would I need to do to get top rents? Could do I a lot less to get lower rents (for example an upgrade may be $10-$15k where a bare minimum repairs and cleaning may only be $1-2k). The rent difference versus the offset of cost needs to be calculated. 

Once all of that is figured into place, I look at the expenses of the property. Is it cash flowing? If yes - great. If no - why? Is it repairs from heavy tenant use? Deferred maintenance I knew was coming? Something that was a 1-off repair that killed cash flow but shouldn't happen again?

After weighting all of that, does it make the most sense to try to keep this tenant in place? If not, then serve the non-renewal and prepare to turn the unit as efficiently as possible to reduce costs and vacancy. If yes - How can you creatively make yourself money without costing the tenant more? A good example to reduce your potential costs without raising rents is to have the tenant agree to handle all repairs under a certain amount. Not only will this help reduce unexpected costs but tenants often take care of their property better when they are responsible for the repair costs. 

At the end of the day, if you have a tenant you want to keep, talk with the tenant and see if you can get on the same page with them to align your goals as an investor with their goals and budget for their housing. 

Hope this helps!

Just wanted to chime in. Highly recommend Austin Daniel 724-622-9096 for an investor friendly agent.

Hi Travis! 

My team and I are property managers for a lot of section 8 owners here and I have been an agent for 20 years. Just my 2 cents, Section 8 was fantastic for a long time. I remember I use to try to convince owners to allow section 8 in the Greater Pittsburgh market because, as you said, rents can often be much higher and from my personal experience, the tenants were often better, longer term tenants because it was hard as heck to get on the section 8 voucher program and even harder to find a place that accepted it. Then in the late 2010's a lot of owners got wise and started to do the bare minimum to pass section 8 standards and still request the top end of the section 8 rents. What that turned into was places that should rent for $750 (for example) getting $1300 or more in rent and section 8 put their foot down and said, if you want top end rents your property better be upgraded top end. We saw a large influx of section 8 re-inspections (and even new inspections) coming back and saying that the properties needed fresh paint, new countertops, etc. Well owners who already had section 8 tenants in place didn't want to spend $5, $10, $15k or more upgraded a unit that has a tenant in place just to maintain the rents they had (or have a slight increase) so a lot of section 8 approved properties stopped taking section 8.

Right after COVID though, it seems that section 8 has lowered their standards a bit. Allegheny county (which is the County the actual city is in) has actually closed their voucher program to new recipients and are supposedly backed up on a 2 year+ waitlist to process what is in the queue. If you are an owner thinking about taking section 8, it can be very very lucrative as long as you understand that their requirements go. If they come and say that your front patio is cracked and needs replaced and that costs $3k. You have to do it. 

If you have any questions about section 8 at all, the process, how to put your properties on the list, etc please do not hesitate to reach out. I'm not an expert, however, I am extremely experienced and if I dont have the answer I know where to find it!

 Hi Jimmy! Are you just looking around where you live or are you open to other markets? The reason I ask is that I'm sure there are other markets, like Pittsburgh, that are close enough that you could do a quick weekend trip to check in but are more financially advantageous. I have some clients who are brrring out properties and are able to pick up a couple at a time, and refinance in a blanket loan, get out most if not all of the money they put down on the original hard money/rehab loan, rinse and repeat. With Pittsburgh's prices you are looking at around $20-$25k down usually per brrrs (often times less then that). Something to consider. My husband and I invest here and think it's a great market!

HI Prithvi. 

We have had a hard time finding good landscapers at "reasonable" prices recently. I will say that time of year contracting them will be the key. We usually have to contract our annual service in February or March for the year and get much better pricing doing it that way then a one time cut.

Prices for a 1/2-1/3 acre lot were running $55-$85/cut a year or two ago. This year the best price we found for that same size was $85-$105. If you find someone better who is reliable to show up and do it right please share!

Best of luck!

Hi James. Welcome to the Pittsburgh market! Our team works with a lot of out of state and out of country investors and most state that Pittsburgh is one of the best markets they invest in due to the more predictable nature of our market (we don't have the bubbles that many of the larger cities do in regards to housing surges and bursts). You can get a nice mix of appreciation and cash flow in most areas. I agree with @Gary Swank that it is very important to have a solid team in place when working from out of the area. I invest here with my husband and we do also love it!

Thanks Alyssa! I'm here if you need any help!

Thanks Alyssa! 

Rents are softening in Pittsburgh for sure. I think that you can still get similar prices but you have to wait a lot longer in most markets to get them rented. Much pickier renters for sure!