All Forum Posts by: Elise Bickel Tauber

We do this for owners by using the matterport system. I really like it and you can do a lower quality version right from your phone if you dont have the matterport camera. We do have the camera and it really helps with floor plans.

This is something that comes up a lot when I'm talking with investors, specially about rentals in the Pittsburgh area. My personal opinion is when we lease a property with an unfinished basement we advertise that the basement could accumulate water. It's a living space under ground and we try to prevent it but water could arise. For finished basements, if it's just a little bit of water, I agree, dehumifider. Otherwise you can go the french drain route or, if only 1 patch of water, a diversion system. I've done that with a few of our properties to route and then ultimately drain the water. 

Hope that helps!

I think this is all going to come down to marketplace. And sometimes, even the agent you partner with. A lot of the agents in my area agree with my team and I on the class ratings but others don't. For Pittsburgh, I usually tell my clients that A areas are the trendier areas. Higher rent prices, better quality tenants, little to no cash flow (usually) but good appreciation and less of a chance of evictions or damage from tenants (and if they damage they usually pay). The goal on these is just long term appreciate and less day-to-day income.

B areas are lower cash flow, but longer term tenants. These tenants often stay a bit longer and are well qualified but there isn't usually a great margin. I often times see higher repair requests in these areas because tenants here expect a certain level of mechanical and cosmetic readiness. 

C areas are my personal favorite. Especially those that are on the rise. You have a medium risk here of eviction and damage when a tenant leaves but you also have a good chance of a longer term tenant, good cash flow, and a slow and steady appreciation.

D areas always look good on paper but they are very high risk. If you find a good tenant here if can be a gold mine but often times you are dealing with a lot of apps before approval and the approved tenants are usually still borderline, lots of evictions, damage, etc. 

Let me know if that helps!

I always tell people, these issues are never black and white. They are all various shades of gray. First, I'm going to ask you what your lease says. Because what I'm reading here, if 100% factual, could have a different outcome depending on the lease (a little bit). So our leases state that if the tenant doesn't notify us of repairs timely that they are ultimately responsible for the cost of the repair. We have won in court before on this, but more times then not, a judge will use their judgement and award a partial amount for the "additional cost" their untimeliness cost the owner in additional repair costs. 

Either way, the fact that the tenant won't let you do the repair, if documented, should protect you from any habibility issue. We've had tenants decide to not pay rent before and start damaging the house to make it uninhabitable. 

A good idea moving forward is to create a good business relationship with an attorney who is local and have them on standby to run these kinds of things by them. They may need more detail to help you navigate earlier on. Not sure where in PA you are but we are in Pittsburgh and if you need a Pittsburgh attorney recommendation let me know. I can share some good ones.

Hi Roee! Welcome to the Pittsburgh market! I highly recommend checking out niche.com when researching the best brrr areas. The areas do change reguarly in regards to demand, pricing, etc so it's best to work with a team here. I'll dm you some contacts for financing, agent, reno, etc!

Hi Dallas. Can you tell me anything more about what your approval requirements are for these projects? My team and I work with a lot of investors and they always ask me about income verification, credit score, etc.

Thanks!

Hi Bagus! I just sent you a DM. Pittsburgh is a great market and I highly recommend talking with as many people as you can about the market here. Let me know if I can help!

 If you are able to and want to go the more traditional safe way, I'd highly consider house hacking. Like @Liam Tennies said. It's a really great way to get started with little down. I've done this with a lot of clients and they've been very successful. Not everyone I work with though wants to or can house hack. Something I've been doing with my clients a lot recently is creative financing. There is always the hard money route. I also have some great lenders that have creative products. There is a colleague of mine who has been going the owner financing route. He picked up something like a dozen properties last year with very little down. He is planning to refi out of them when either the interest rates drop significantly (if they do) or when the property would re-fi at 60-70% of the owner financed amount but he does have a 30 year loan with the owners so if he wants to keep that option forever he can. Let me know if you want any creative options or just wanna chat!

I used a company called MRE and they were fantastic! I can share their info if you are interested!