All Forum Posts by: Igor Messano

Hi everyone, Does anyone have a recommendation for an electrician in the Philadelphia Kensington area? I have a small job in a rental that needs someone good with old wiring. Thanks in advanced.

Charlie DiLisio That is what I think I'm going to have to do. Do you have any idea what the cost would be to tuck and point the front of a row home ? Do I have a new hire front or just the areas in our in bad shape?

Christopher B. Sorry I don't think I was clear in my post. The house is currently painted so in order to have plain brick I would have to strip and do extensive work to remove years of paint

Currently with your $300 cash flow and the $90K in equity you are getting a flat 4% return on that money. That is for me, too low of a return. I also would be very skeptical of the cash flow in the first place. After your mortgage, which I assume is PITI, you are left with $500 per month. No way long term you are only spending $200 per month on maintenance and CAPEX. My guess is that soon you will taking a lot of money out of pocket for some real repairs, especially with the wear and tear of student housing. I would sell it and give yourself a pat on the back for a couple of years of positive cash flow and increase in equity, and then go and put that equity into other RE investments that give you better returns, and room for your coveted PM fees.

Hi everyone, I just closed on a property this week and am in the process of getting it ready to rent. The exterior needs a little TLC. It has a reddish brown painted brick and I see a few spots were the mortar is not fully flush with the brick like most of the joints. I am not sure if this means full pointing or just some touch up? Regardless of pointing I also need to paint. Given the cost and market I don't think the cost of stripping the brick is a choice right now and painted brick is very common in the area. Any tips or ideas? If I have to touch up the mortar, will the paint be a big issue? This is a 16 foot wide two story townhouse so only the front has brick.

If you depart from cash basis accounting you should really look into an accounting software that will facilitate this or hire someone. It will be an administrative nightmare a soon as the number of transactions increases (i.e., more properties). 

A better question is why do you need to show expenses exactly in the month it was incurred? I see your point in expenses looking skewed but that will be the case for many large expenses when ever they occur such as a roof replacement. If you start looking at your expense in the aggregate and in a year basis, then this wont matter much.

Hi everyone,

I have also been considering going electronic in the future but have not determined the best option yet. One concern I have, besides chargebacks with Paypal, is the tenants ability to pay any amount at any time. For example, if I am in the process of evicting a tenant and they send over a $10 payment, that could be a deciding factor for the courts to not evict based on partial rent accepted. Does anyone have any thoughts about this or ideas of how to prevent the tenants from posting payments when they are in the process of eviction?

I am with @Brendan Markle,

I am on my second property in Kensington, one purchased for 52K (great deal) and one closing this week for 60K. They will cash flow amazingly at 950 and 850 monthly rent, specially given the little I had to invest. The secret really is tenant screening and being a good but firm landlord. If your tenants respect you because you are firm but also know that you will take care of your responsibilities as a landlord, they will treat you and your property much better.

Warning: Kensington and many parts of Philly are block by block neighborhoods and you should do your research very well. I would not go anywhere near some areas of Kensington in the near future.

Stephanie Potter I understand what you mean by overlays now thank you and that sounds exactly what the lender is doing as I have discussed cash out refi with them previously and they were able to do 6 months. Good to know that the change in underwriting was based on their decision and not regulation.

Mike B. Hey Mike. That is exactly my situation as I also work full time and am buying the property cash to then refinance. Mind sharing any lenders you had success with in the recent past?