All Forum Posts by: James McFadden

@Dell J. do you mean the Liberty Street that runs from the bay all the way up to Peach Street? If so, then I’m pretty familiar as I own two duplexes, one on Liberty St and one a block from Liberty in two different parts of town. 

So between working remote, day trading a little money in the stock market, and living my best quarantine life I stumbled upon this thread again... I closed on another 2 unit in the City of Erie in February and was in the process of evicting one of the tenants so I could rehab one unit but that got put on hold since Rona put a halt to all evictions until end of May... Fortunately all of my other tenants (7 doors) paid April rent so my NOI for April is still positive and I expect May to positive as well based on the stimulus checks and UC claims also coming in for my tenants to cover gap in income...

That is a little about my current Rona issues, would love to know how everyone else is holding up during this...

Also I have more time on my hands so I picked up the book "Financial Freedom" by Grant Sabatier... been a solid read so far! Anyone else have recommendations for good books or podcasts to listen to??

Hope you are all staying healthy and sane!!!

@Karl B. I will PM you

@Gabriel Hershberger you are right that the appreciation in property value is less than ideal for investing in Erie, IF that is your strategy with your portfolio... for me it's just taking the time to find the right property that's fits the criteria I'm looking for to generate cash flow that I can save to go after my next deal... obviously gaining equity would accelerate my ability to purchase more properties but I don't think those opportunities are that plentiful in Erie, atleast in my experience... however scooping up decent properties in the 55-75K range is doable and will generate solid cash flow... 

Gentlemen... glad to see lil ol Erie, Pa getting some action on BP... I haven't been active on BP for a couple months but excited to get back at it and build up a solid RE group on here...

Just a little quick background on my journey so far in Erie, Pa... I am born and raised in Erie, PA and currently live here... I work a full time professional salary job and manage my own properties during weeknights and weekends... Been at this REI gig for 4 years now and currently have 2 MF units, a total of 4 doors... I currently owner occupy the downstairs of one of my properties... Both properties are in the City of Erie... if you do your research, you can find B/C category properties that provide GREAT cash flow... not everyone has given up on living in city and moving to Millcreek or the county and there are still good, reliable people looking to rent in the West side City areas, but that is if you screen properly... Overall, I've had my wins and loses in my early career of REI, but I can tell you that the BRRRR concept is alive and well in Erie... I do a lot of the work myself, putting in sweat equity, but I also feel I have a reliable network of RE agents, brokers, plumbers, carpenters, and electricians to do the work that I cannot or better yet should not do and hire licensed professionals... hard lesson learned, YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR...

Enough about me... I'm curious to get some updates on you guys and feedback on your journey so far in Erie REI...

@Dillon Loomis -- hope the RE exam went well for you!!  If you want to get any more insight on how I started out in Erie, I'd be glad to chat...  My properties are both located off of Liberty St in the City... one off of West 8th and one off of West 27th... when it comes to managing my properties when I'm out of town, I have a reliable friend who handles any emergencies (lockouts, water leaks, toilet/sewer issues, etc.) but outside of that the tenants and my friend have my go to plumbers and contractors for anything that needs handled... and I settle up on the bill when I get back... having reliable professionals you can trust is all you need, but that has come at many ups and downs for me... took my 4 years but I feel I'm in a good place now...

@Chris Mentch -- curious to know who you used to finance your deal for your property... I've been using Select Mortgage as my broker, and my financing is all done with a local bank, Northwest Savings...  where is your property located in the City?

@Karl B. -- looks like you are still in town since you enjoyed our heat wave here in Erie yesterday... let me know how the Tenant search goes for the two upstairs units... and I've got a property a couple blocks from you so if you are down around there this weekend it'd be a good opportunity to meet up and chat...

Final thought and just throwing this out there but it'd be awesome to meet up with you guys in Erie at a local restaurant/ bar to talk some more...  My next challenge is building up enough cash/ equity to land my next deal so any direction on hard money lenders, RE investors who just want to put up some cash I'd be happy to entertain... 

Hi Latausha... PM me and we can discuss!

Good Morning BP!

I have been reading many posts over the past couple months and I can honestly say that this community of real estate professionals are full of fantastic advice and info!

I am currently an investor located in Erie, Pa. I own a couple investment properties, 5 units in total and have found the buy and hold investment route has worked out great for me here... certain areas in the city have low investment property purchase prices (50K to 70K) with high rental prices. Monthly Cash on Cash return currently on 2 of my properties are averaging over 100%. With 2 large universities and 2 fast growing, accredited colleges in a 10 mile radius this is pure rental market, and let me tell ya its fantastic. With me working for corporate America 60 hours a week, finding time to grow my real estate business is tough but something I am passionate about and hope to one day be able to do full time.

I feel my knowledge of the real estate market around here is above average, and I know enough to be dangerous. I'm looking for someone with capital who is willing work with me, build a partnership for long-term success. I've got some skin in the game too, just not enough of my own to kick this real estate journey into another gear. Give me the opportunity to show you how lucrative this Erie market can be. I I'd be willing to bet if you got this far reading my post, you'd be willing to take an extra 2 minutes and respond to me and share your thoughts, criticism, encouragement, insights, etc. I double-dog dare ya!

I haven't come across much action or discussion on Erie so I think its time to put it on the map with BP!

All the best!

James Mac