All Forum Posts by: Elise Bickel Tauber

From my perspective, Pittsburgh is still a pretty strong sellers market. I've been telling clients recently, we have an inventory problem currently so if you put a solid property on the market at the right price, it's going to have multiple offers and fly off of the market. A bad property or over pricing it, it will sit and sit and sit. For buyers, I have a ton that are sitting waiting for a decent property or two to hit the market and the inventory is just not there. I don't expect, at least in our metro, for it to be a buyers market anytime soon. The demand is just too strong!

But with that being said, you can still get a good deal in Pittsburgh, just need to wait and weed through it!

 I agree with what Jeremy said, however, let me make a few caveats here. 

First, I've seen a lot of investors get their license to save money but are only doing their own transactions and don't take the time to learn what they are doing properly so they end up messing up paperwork, missing deadlines (which has caused them to loose handmoney) and make offers that were not financially sound. Just having a license doesn't mean you know what you are doing. You need to really commit to learning the market like a full time agent would. At least for the area and niche you are working. Markets can change pretty quickly and without knowing what is happening in real time you can make choices that aren't as smart as if you were more in tune.

I will 100% agree with making sure you find people you know and trust in the market you are in. For me as an investor and agent that is more then just a great property management company and contractor, that includes speciality contracts (hvac, electricians, plumbers etc) and also other great agents (@Jeremy Taggart is one I absolutely know and trust for example!) When you are looking for good deals, sometimes these agents will have something off market they can share your way and when you are stuck and need a second opinion or value or why something isn't selling/renting you can always reach out for another pair of eyes!

One last thought, no matter how many times you run the numbers or how bulletproof you try to make your investment strategy, know that real estate investing isn't a guaranteed investment solution. 1 bad tenant, 1 market shift, 1 change can take out your profit...but if you troubleshoot your problems, hold tight, and play the long game, in the end, you will end up a winner! 

The Greater Pittsburgh Area has had rental registrations and/or occupancy permit requirements in a lot of the surrounding towns for years. The city itself adopted this in 2025. The fees are running around $100-$150 in total (depending on the area) for the registration and occupancy, but that itself isn't the expense. It is the potential repairs and re-inspection fees that can add up. The list given is inconclusive typically and depending on your inspector they can request you to do updates that are beyond safety standards. In general the repairs haven't been too bad but with it being a new process it can be a pain in the butt.

I can only speak for the Pittsburgh side. The real estate commission has been really cracking down on wholesalers here. Wholesaling is a real estate activity and not doing it correctly and not having a real estate license is a big no-no. Once you have your license you must keep your fiduciary duties to the client you represent so you do also need to make sure you are properly disclosing everything to your client and looking out for their best interest, which includes the fact that they could get a whole lot more money on the open market (usually).  

 I completely agree. Depending on the market you select here you could easily hit the 1% rule in, I would say, 80% of the areas. I just had a client buy a single family home close to turn key (brrrs usually have better margins) They bought for $50k. We are leasing for $1300. GREAT margins!

Right now the market in Pittsburgh is pretty good for picking up small multi-units. We just helped an investor buy a side-by-side duplex for $110k, pretty turn key with tenants in there paying $825 a side. Tenants pay all utilities. Taxes were $1363 a year. It's in a C+ area which isn't bad at all. These are pretty common deals here. 

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!