All Forum Posts by: Gregory H.

@Peter Kozlowski "Maybe if he hadn't aggressively pushed me like he did in the end, and given me thirty minutes or so to inspect the work, it could've worked out." 

Can someone @Chris K. the attorney in this area that owns the glass business United Glass Ventures, he'd know

You've spent hours obsessing over this for $75 ... its a waste of your time, use your time for higher value add. If you get caught up in a moral stand every time someone tries to screw you, you'll never have any time to make real money. How can you possibly need 30 minutes to review $75 worth of work, lol, I've paid a few grand for labor before and that takes less than 30 mins to review.

@Matt Lord You haven't said what sort of price point you are looking at for your acquisitions yet, that is a big determining factor here.

Everything was much cheaper in 2013, you could have bought just about anywhere in the metro and done well. 

Village Shires is okay, I hate the management company there, very unprofessional, we sold our only unit in there last year and will never go back. Also, relatively speaking, Southampton has higher taxes because the town itself has lower property values than neighboring Newtown, so they need to have a higher percentage tax. 

If you're okay with condos/townhouses, Newtown Grant is the best. Well run association, the townhouse association fees are dirt cheap, which is awesome (condo fees are on par with other communities in the area), and its easy to find renters. 

What I was saying for price point was that if you have the cash to do something in the $200s without debt, you should also be considering doing something in the 300s-400s with debt depending on your situation. It always feels safer to buy cash, but if you're using up a lot of your capital, it can be riskier to buy cash than to buy with debt, put 25% down, and keep a decent amount of cash on the sidelines.

Ignore the 1% "rule", you're looking for overall return, not some random metric created by a "guru" trying to sell books. Have about a dozen rentals in Bucks, mostly Newtown. $200K isn't the largest budget for this area, especially if you're looking single family, and will place you in towns with little appreciation in Lower Bucks, this is due to the fact that they are lower value areas that tend to have high property taxes as a % of value. I definitely wouldn't make your first investment one that will be a big enough project that it takes 18-24 months to get a tenant in ... find something a little rough, that you feel comfortable tackling yourself that you can do in max 2-3 months and get a tenant in prior to the end of summer.

It is relatively common for brokers to charge their agents a fee per transaction. My brokerage charges me a $50 fee per transaction. It is insignificant to me, so I would rather not nickel & dime my clients, so I don't pass it along. I would say the fee depends on the area, I'm used to seeing around $300 is what many agents charge their buyers in the Philly area. Honestly, the fact is that most buyers have no idea what they are doing, and there are tons of fees in real estate, so most buyers don't even question them. Tell her you do not want to pay the fee, and see what she says. What is the price point of the offer you're making?

Use the lease put out by the PA Association of Realtors

Even the most expensive property management firms charge 10% of rents per year to do very comprehensive management, which probably works out to about 1% of the property's value per year. I manage 20 properties for my parents in Philadelphia & Buck counties, and that is what I charge them. Asking for 30% of the value of the property to do management is beyond absurd, and honestly may be challenged by the IRS as they may reclassify it as a gift. If your parents simply want to do it as part of their estate planning, I wouldn't include any non-family members as it is essentially your inheritance.

you arent getting around paying the 4% transfer tax, also, what is the point of transferring them to your company, and what are your parents being provided for the 30% stake they are losing?