All Forum Posts by: Greg Kimball

I've been looking at it for the past year, watching what has been going on with the Casino. Now it's looking like the Casino is a definite and they are preparing the site. I live in Northern VA and have a flip I'm finishing in PA. Danville is looking like a serious contender for my next project. The other area I'm looking at is Williamsburg, VA. I just spent a week there to get a feel for which neighborhoods might make sense for me. I'm thinking I will be headed to Danville soon to check it out as well and decide which area I will focus on.

Hi Steve, I see you posted this almost a year ago, I was curious if you ended up buying in Williamsburg. My wife and I also live in Northern VA (Loudoun County) and are looking at Williamsburg for a property to renovate. We currently own a house near Pittsburgh that we are doing a full renovation on and are looking for our next project. My primary job is in IT and due to Covid, my position has become 100% remote permanently so I can work from anywhere. If you did buy in Williamsburg, I would appreciate any insight. We are traveling there in two weeks and plan to stay for a week to explore the area and get a feel for neighborhoods.

Hi Jamie, Welcome to BP, I'm relatively new on here as well. My wife and I began our real estate adventure not too long ago. We own a condo in Northern VA (Loudoun County) that we bought 3 years ago as well as a house in PA near Pittsburgh that we're doing a full renovation on ourselves, we call it our Covid project. My primary job is in IT and due to Covid, my position has become 100% remote permanently, so I can work from anywhere. We plan to sell the PA house when we're done with it this summer or fall and we are looking at the Williamsburg area to buy our next property. We are traveling to Williamsburg in two weeks and plan to stay for a week to explore the area and get a feel for neighborhoods. Given that you live there, any insight into areas to look at or avoid would be greatly appreciated.

That would be very valuable for both the towns and investors! I researched towns in VA, MD, WV and PA because I wanted my project to be within a 3-4 hour drive. I looked at demographics, property values and trends. It would have been very helpful in my decision making if I had a better feel for local politics and the vision/plans for the town's future.

That’s a very good point. I am hopeful that there are some forward thinking politicians in office at the local level. I’ve read a bit about some of the local politics and that will definitely be a factor when deciding which town(s) I make any future investment in. 

When I search on Monessen, PA on this site, I don't find much and what I do find tends to be on the negative side. I am from Loudoun County VA and early this year, my wife and I were looking for a "project". I have a job in IT and, due to COVID, can now work from anywhere. After some research, we bought our "COVID" project in Monessen, PA. We have lived 50% of the time between our Monessen house and our Loudoun VA condo for the past 5 months. The demographic comparison between the locations of our two homes is as extreme as they come! Our condo is very comfortable but our Monessen house was left empty for 8 years and found it's way on to the town's blighted property list so, yes, it needs work. Though I do work in IT and have for 25 years, I have a construction background from my younger years and have kept my hands in it so I am well versed in carpentry, plumbing and electrical. We are thoroughly enjoying bringing our house in Monessen back to life and love it there! The town is unique and there are sections I would think twice about investing in but 2/3s of it is great and we will seriously consider purchasing another property or two, or three to bring back to life and hold as rental properties. The decline of areas like Monessen, like so many of the towns along the Monongahela, has been due the area's dependency on an industry that drastically declined. The world is quickly changing and people are not as bound to specific areas for specific industries as they once were! Too many people are stuck in the past. People need to open their minds, places like Monessen have more homes than needed for it's current population, the country has a housing shortage that will persist for years so the potential is there. I'll admit, to do what what we're doing isn't for everyone but I'm loving this little hobby and see the potential for it to be profitable if handled well. Anyone else out there see things this way?

I saw this post from 3 months ago. How are things working out for you so far? I purchased a sfh the next town over in Monessen, PA. I bought it for $25,000, it was a cash deal. It needs a lot of work but has a lot going for it. I would love to connect with another investor or two with projects in the Mon-valley, more specifically Monessen, Donora, Charleroi and Belle Vernon area. would love to hear about successes and challenges encountered working on projects in that area.  

Back in my younger days, I worked in the trades, roofing, siding, carpentry, plumbing, etc. I went back to school in the early 90s and have been working in IT ever since. Through the years, I've owned several homes and done a lot of work on each one. I've always had a love for doing home improvements on my properties as well as those of friends and family members. I have a great job in IT with a well known company and have been working from home since mid-March. As many companies have discovered, people can be as productive, if not more so, working remotely. My company has decided to allow all IT employees to work remotely indefinitely. Given that this is my new reality, I gave my home office a complete makeover and it came out great. It also got me thinking that there isn't much left to do to my current home, I love living here and plan to stay here but with my new found flexibility, my desire for a new project and some money in the bank, maybe it's time to look for a property to renovate. I live in Northern Virginia, about 30 miles west of Washington D.C. and have decided to start exploring towns within a three hour drive for a property to make my new project. I've begun looking at properties in Central and Southern VA, Maryland and Southern PA but I realize I need to decide on a specific area. I've not only been looking at properties but also researching demographics and market trends in trying to determine where to focus. My intent is to split my time living between my current home and my project property as I renovate since I can continue my full time IT job remotely as long as I have internet. What I do with the property when I'm done depends on the property. I'll most likely sell if it's single family and probably will rent if it's a multi-unit property. If all goes well, I'll move on to my next. My question is how have others made the decision on location in their search for properties to renovate?