All Forum Posts by: Elise Bickel Tauber

 Hey Bailey! Welcome to investing! Bigger Pockets is the best place for advice (imo) but a lot of people get stuck when taking the plunge. A great question for you is what is the end goal? Are you looking to flip properties primarily? Buy and hold rentals? In 5 years are you hoping to have 5-10 solid investment properties that cash flow but also appreciate nicely or are you looking for some high yielding cash flowing properties that you can dump in 3-5 years? 

If you are looking for something with a little less risk I would say that either a house hack (where you live in one unit and out the other(s)) or a single family rental would be a good place to start. Single family homes have the benefit of the tenant paying all utilities, taking care of all landscaping/snow, and lower cost replacement when things go wrong (a roof on a single family home is a lot less then on a large multi). If you are ok with a little more risk then completing some flips is a great way to go. I usually see the first couple can be a learning process but once you've hit flip 3, 4, 5 most of the time you have figured it out. If you ever need anything I'd be happy to be a resource for you including lenders, vendors, etc!

We've had very good luck with foremost insurance for our owners that we manage for. The other company we have had good success in the past with (but haven't used recently) is Nationwide. 

 Hey Alec,

Lots of good comments I agree with. In general, I agree in our market here in Pittsburgh "rent by the room" isn't a very profitable strategy and when we've managed for owners with this strategy it always turns out bad. The only areas that we've seen it turn out really well is around hospitals, especially for traveling nurses, doctors, patients, etc and college areas, like around Geneva or Beaver County Community College. 

Just a few thoughts for you!

A lot of times I see questions like this and the real answer is "what does the lease say".
If a lease isn't clear as to who is responsible it is going to default to the landlord. Our lease states that on a single family home all pest control is the responsibility of the tenant. For multi-units the tenant is responsible for pest control for their unit unless a pest control company deems that another unit is the source of the issue. 

Hope that helps! If you need anything please feel free to reach out!

 The work was done right and passed inspection, but the code guy made them rip it out and redo it because it was done prior to a permit being pulled. Then it all had to be re-done. I've never come across that situation in 20 years of doing this.

This is a question of area and what is being done. For anything cosmetic (paint, flooring, kitchen cabinets, etc) you dont need a permit. And most boros around Pittsburgh don't even have an option to pull for that. When it comes to anything major like electrical, plumbing, or structural...I think you need a permit. And I know it eats up time, but honestly, those are big things. Switching out a toilet, no you dont need a permit (imo). Running new plumbing lines to a house. Yes. The answer as to why homeowners or investors choose to do unpermitted work is both time and money. It has to be done by the books. The construction company my husband and I own have a city license which is required to get a permit in the city of Pittsburgh. It is a pain in the *** to get and not cheap. The extra insurances we need to hold, bonds, etc. But, we do a lot of work in the city so it's worth it. 

I will also tell a cautionary tell. My client was selling a duplex in the city and when they went to sell, they found out that the guy they bought it from did a whole bunch of unpermitted work and the inspector prior to the current one was his buddy and let it pass. Well now my client had to rip out all that work and re-do it with the correct permits of the city wouldn't release the lien letters. It cost my client tens of thousands of dollars. I say just do it right the first time!

I work out of (and invest in) the Greater Pittsburgh Market. We have a lot of boros/metros here that require the same thing. Landlord or rep for landlord must be within 10-15 miles of the property. The excuse I am always given is that out of state landlords tend to be negligent and want someone local they can hold accountable. I'm not sure how I feel about it but it is pretty common.

Hey Allison!

I'll give my cents as both an investor myself and a Real Estate Broker. I had helped investors for years buy deals and also found myself in paralysis with pulling the trigger to invest about a decade ago. I was helping everyone find good deals and make good money but when it's your own money it's so much more real!! I will say, in my personal opinion, flips are much more risky. I always tell my clients not to expect to make any money the first 3 deals you do. If you get all your money back thats great! If you are open to it, brrrs, in my opinion, are the way to go! if you do it right you can get your money out (and maybe a little extra), get some cash flowing for additional income and do it again. These to me are the least risk and we've done these many times. $50k is more then enough to pick up 2-3 to start. Hope that helps!

Hi Emmanuel! Welcome!!

I assume from your coverage area you are in the Philadelphia part of PA?

Hi Davin,

Just an idea, have you connected with an agent on the mls and had them reach out to all listings that meet your criteria and propose an Arbitrage? I think 90% of the agents in our metro that list rentals have no idea what an arbitrage is or the benefits to it and if you have an agent who can help explain that to them on your behalf you may be able to pick up a couple. If you are looking for a good agent let me know. I have a couple good recommendations.