All Forum Posts by: Jeremy Lee

Yes, I am in communication with my insurance agent. It appears the next step after the public adjuster is to talk to an attorney. I have not been down this route before, is this my only choice?

Hi all,

I have been through the insurance claim process before and this is the first time being denied. The details don't matter much, however I hired a public adjuster to re-evaluate the claim. After numerous attempts to contact the insurance company, the status of the claim has not changed. The public adjuster believes that the insurance company should pay the claim out.

The insurance company has resent the denial letter, but will not respond to his evidence as to why the claim is valid. They won't call us back or reply to the emails to acknowledge his evidence.

Has anyone been here? What are the next steps?

I have been suggested to contact an attorney, has anyone had experience with this?

Hi Christopher,

I would look into hard money or private lenders, once the property is cash flowing then find a traditional lender to take out a new loan and pay off the 1st loan. The rates will be higher, however the lenders are often flexible.

On a side note, wholesalers are looking for an all cash or hard money deal to sell their properties.

Terry, 

Welcome to BP! 

Pittsburgh is very diverse in terms of home prices and areas. There are houses priced between $10k to 1 million +.

Maybe a good place to start is to create a 'profile' of the types of tenants you want living in your property - how much do they make, where they work, etc. Based on that look at rental listings where there are duplexes for $110k and see if your tenant 'profiles' make 3x the income to afford the rent and if you can picture them living there as your tenants. 

A couple areas to look at:

B areas: crafton, beechview, brookline, dormont

C areas: sheradan, munhall, homestead

You can probably get a duplex in a C area for that price, it may be more difficult to get a duplex in a B area. 

Honestly it depends if the property is worth more than the repair value. If you have the arv and the area, we can help determine if it’s worth fixing or better for you to take your insurance payout and let it be.

There are flippers who would be interested depending on the extent of the damage and cost to repair.

I'm 23 and I started investing in rental property when I was 21. I created my own pipeline to acquire, manage, repair my properties. I work a normal 9-5 job by day and do real estate by night. I haven't paid for a single course or class, my knowledge is self taught through books, podcasts and talking with other investors. It's helpful to be young - many other investors are willing to teach you a thing or two. Once you start hearing the same advice over and over again and you know how the podcast guest will answer the question, it's time to take action - you know enough.

In terms of picking an asset class, choose one, learn it and focus on it. You can use some analysis to determine which asset class gets the best returns/what you can afford. It's easy to get distracted with other types of properties/asset classes. You want to know your basic investing strategy inside and out before you branch out. For me this is residential rental properties in C class areas.

I'm actively working on growing my portfolio as well as exploring other business ventures to feed my pipeline. 

Hi Savannah,

Thanks for posting. This deal is in the upper hill, which is the better part of 15219, however it is still economically suffering.

A couple things I see right off the bat - I think your insurance premiums should be higher, depending on what type of coverage you elect. Since its vacant, typically you will need to pay your PM to install tenants and have different insurance.

I don't think the issues with the property are scaring off the investors, however your sheet fails to take into account the holding time and costs to fix the place. During this time, you will be spending money to refurbish the place, have no rent and still paying off the cost of money. At this price point and condition, I doubt you'll get a 30 year loan. Most likely you'll have to use private/hard money.

I don't doubt that there is money to be made with this deal; however it depends on your appetite as an investor for what you're looking for in terms of returns and needed repairs.

Unfortunately, I can't comment on the rehab cost since there are no pictures or info, but $35k seems a bit low.

-J

Vance, welcome to BP

Sure, its possible to purchase properties and market them to out of state investors. There are numerous other entities who do similar things in the Pittsburgh region. 

New Ken is all street by street, some places are worth renovating, others aren't.

It isn't hard to find properties for sale in New Ken, it depends on your criteria for what a deal is. 

@Amalia Auge

1. multi family units all over, in the city or not all can suffer from not having split utilities. Often the owner absorbs the cost. Otherwise, the utils can all be in the tenants name, except for water which is lienable by most companies.

2. In C areas, the key is screening, so having good references, good income and are quality people are some examples of what to look for. There are plenty of owners who do well and plenty who get taken for a ride.

3. I think what I am saying about rent to own if you purchase the property and enter a contract with a tenant to do rent to own with them. In this situation they won't be calling you to fix everything, since it would be their responsibility; however you will have to chase them down if they default and the property is lien free. The internet is not likely to have this readily available to you.

4. In beechview and brookline, it is possible to get deals and sure depending on the home size, you could possibly get 1200/mo. It is dependent on the type of property you purchase. Look for rental comps online to see what others are asking for rent for like properties.

Best,
J

Hi Samantha,

I've never found an inspector who specializes in roofing, usually I either get a roofer to go up there and take a look or there are enough details in the property inspection report (if ordered). Eitherway, to know best someone would have to climb up there.

If you want to do this yourself, get some binoculars or a zoom camera and take pictures, specifically missing/broken/misaligned shingles. Check the flashing and also the gutters for proper drainage and obviously inside the house for evidence of leaks.

The other way to spin this is to just tell the seller that the roof is 15 years old and will need to be replaced soon based on avg roof life.