All Forum Posts by: Elise Bickel Tauber

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. 

I'm an investor and agent in Western PA (Greater Pittsburgh market). I am biased but I think Pittsburgh is one of the best section 8 markets currently.I've been doing section 8 rentals since 2010 as a property manager. It has had its highs and lows in Western PA. For example, a few years back they were really be stingy with approving for top approval rents because landlords were trying to get top rents but their places were barely passing hability standards so they were approving section 8 but at lower rents. More recently they seem to be just trying to get as many section 8 renters into places as possible. 

Section 8 here has a predetermined rent amount (max allowance) for each property depending on if it is a house, apartment, townhouse, etc and what utilities the landlord pays versus the tenant. Depending on the areas you choose you can have fantastic cash flow. What @Alyssa Wright stated is correct. If you have a clean, properly marketed unit you can get an approved section 8 tenant within 7-10 days. It does take about 30 days for section 8 to send out an inspector and approve the unit for move-in but all in all it can be a pretty quick process. They have actually shut down new section 8 applicants for people who want to get on section 8 because there are so many existing renters who are looking for housing and so few landlords that want to do it. Because of this, it isn't uncommon for a section 8 tenant to move into a unit and stay 3, 5, 7 years or longer. 

Hope that helps!

@Alec Jacobs I agree with a lot of the things Kevin and Jeremy said. I know Jeremy has personally house hacked before and I do think that is a great strategy. Whether you are house hacking, flipping, or just buying buy and hold properties, I think Beaver is a great market. Good cash flow, slow and steady appreciation over all and, in my almost 15 years of managing in Beaver, it seems like you get more longer term tenants (3-5 years and longer) but, as Jeremy said, you sometimes have to weed through a few more applications to find good ones.

I'll send you a dm of a few good contacts in Beaver county including a great investment agent, lender, and pm company. 

Hope this helps!

Hey Chase,

I agree with Nicholas, facebook groups are super helpful however, I am noticing social media groups are becoming less and less popular with everyone being so busy.

I would recommend you work with a knowledgable investor agent who has other investors and resources that they can connect you with. They may also have creative financing deal opportunities for you. I'll dm you a great investor agent in Pittsburgh. 

Hope that helps!

Just an alternative thought, depending on the state you are located in, would it make sense to open an LLC for the management of your rentals? I am a broker in PA and from my understanding of the law you can manage your own properties without a real estate license. Therefore, you can buy the properties in whatever name you would like and then manage your own rentals through the LLC you create which would create a protective barrier between the tenants and yourself. Just a thought.

Very interesting responses here. I can only speak from my 20 years of experience in real estate in Pittsburgh, PA. Your laws and "customary" responses to situations where you are from may be different. I always teach my staff there is a "legal" responsibility and an "ethical" responsibility. Legally, if this situation happened in PA, per our lease, we are not required to do anything at all. Our leases state that when situations happen like this they need to contact their renters insurance and their insurance will determine if they are entitled to something or not.

From an ethical responsibility, it is not their fault or your fault that these appliances stopped working. And if they owed the property they would be facing the same hardships with having to wait for the replacement. But I would offer them a small credit for their inconvenience. If the rent was $5000 I would offer them $250(or so) as a connivence credit. Maybe even $500. What I think about is if you have a good paying tenant, how you handle situations like this may be the difference between the tenant staying another year or not. What would the potential turn over cost you? If you would have little to no vacancy and could rent for more and there would be no costs (if you self lease) then maybe it's worth saying "not giving you a dime" but if it will be costly I would be more liberal with the credit. 

Just my two cents.

Hi Daniela,

Would be happy to chat and help however I can. I'm an investor with my husband and also a realtor in Pittsburgh!