All Forum Posts by: Jay Belcher

I'm not sure how your 180 day late reporting would affect the credit. If it's not showing as disputed you're probably in bad shape. You should probably read up on how to properly dispute it so that it's noted on the credit report.

Not sure what you're asking regarding a renters credit. If it was already rented you could get the security deposit from the seller toward the purchase.

If buy and hold is your thing, then buy and hold. Depending on how fast you want to grow, you could use your cash for down payments on additional units. If you buy them undervalued you can refi them down the road (after adequate seasoning - 6-12 mos) and pull that money back out and do it again.

As always cash is king so use it sparingly.

You can definitely house hack while you live here. But once you're gone, I think I'd only plan to keep it as a rental if it would cash flow for one tenant. Treating the four bedrooms as four "units" is a little hairy and a little illegal, even more so out of state. By "one tenant" I mean one lease - could be a family or a group of unrelated friends signing together.

There's also rules against four unrelated people living in a single-family home. Granted it happens all the time, but easier to control if you are one of the four and a neighbor starts to complain.

Hey @Ryan Coffman - I'd say the REIA sub-groups are pretty friendly and welcoming. The main group is bigger but people are more than willing to talk, you just may have to make the first move to strike up a conversation. I haven't been to ACRE in a good while.

@Andrew Medici try searching Facebook for Pittsburgh REIA and Pittsburgh Real Estate Investors

@Andrew Medici I don't know that area of Pittsburgh as well - I'm more in the south, but I know folks are doing a lot of deals up there.

Pittsburgh is much like Baltimore in the "block by block" differences. If possible drive/walk areas you want to invest in to get a better feel. A couple blocks can make all the difference.

You may also want to check out Pittsburgh REIA. There are a lot of good local meetings (main & sub-groups) - great if you're in town, but there's also a heavy Facebook presence which can help with finding deals, contractors, etc. when you can't be at the meetings in person.

Welcome @Andrew Medici

Pittsburgh is a great area - it's become very popular among out of town investors.

What type of investing are you looking to do? Do you have neighborhoods selected?

Pittsburgh is getting more expensive, but super cheap compared to DC area! Baltimore has some good areas too (closer to home).

Welcome to Bigger Pockets.

Sorry to hear about your wife. You do seem in a good place now to be getting into real estate more steadily now.

ACRE still exists and you should check them out. Also Pittsburgh REIA is another big real estate group in the Pittsburgh area. REIA has several sub-groups that meet throughout the month - they may even have something out east. There's a group in Greensburg as well - I'm not exactly sure the name of that one.

Welcome to Bigger Pockets.

You may also want to check out local (Pittsburgh) investing groups - Pittsburgh REIA and ACRE. Pittsburgh REIA has a lot of good sub-groups that meet throughout the month too.

@Jim K. keep after it. Good deals are out there - just keep digging! I agree it sucks but powering through setbacks are what separate the wannabes from the doers.