All Forum Posts by: Chris Da

I have and I own 17 properties in Pottstown.. I enjoy the meetings but find that most of the people are not experienced investors, or not as experienced as they claim to be. I sometimes cringe when I hear the advice they offer to investors. I have been lucky enough to have several investors as mentors whom own several hundred units, which to me is where I like to learn from vs meetings. I sometimes offer my opinions but feel they are often ignored as they aren't always what people want to hear. 

Hello and thank you in advance...

Question. I have been looking to purchase a larger multi unit building and had a question about funding the purchase. I have a 403b with approx 2,200,000. I do not need the money to live on, and only plan on withdraw the money once I have to once I am 70 1/2. My question is, is there a way to transfer some of the money into an IRA then use the IRA to fund the down money for the purchase of the building? I do not want to withdraw the money, as I am in the 35% tax bracket and will have to pay approx $35,000 per/100k withdraw. Any suggestions on this would be helpful.

Also, I have done this several times in the past. Not long ago I purchased a home with a 2 year old boiler. It made total sense verses converting to forced hot air. Another trick I have done in the past with homes with the old high ceilings was to run ductwork up from the basement and strap the ducts to the ceiling. I would cut out vents on t he second floor, run my flex to the vents and the frame the perimeter of the first floor ceiling about 15 inches lower and install high hats and drywall. Pow...you didn't make a mess, the ducts are run correctly and you have updated lighting at the time. That's how to be creative, and NO DEMO mess!

Contrary to what several people have replied, it is not an uncommon nor unsafe practice. Many of the people on this board whom consider themselves expert investors really have no idea. Anyone with a decent line of credit and access to a realtor with half a brain could purchase a house and hire a bunch of ding dongs to rehab and sell it the last year. I would be willing to bet in the coming year, all these expert flippers won't have much to say..time shall tell. That being said, any decent HVAC company could perform this task. It's called a gas gun conversion. As long as the boiler is in good condition, there are no issues. Plain and simple you are unbolting 4 1/2 nuts, a fuel oil line, and 1 14/2 wire and replacing the burner with a gas burner. This takes all of an hour if that. The gas company will run the gas line to your home. You need to have a 3/4 black pipe out of the house and tied into the heater to supply the gas instead of oil. New Jersey nor any other state has any issue with this as long as it is done correctly. Keep in mind, anyone can talk a bunch of ******** on a message board and sound as though they know what they are talking about, but from my experience if you hand them the tools and tell them to show you, they haven't got a clue. If you have an iPhone, you could FaceTime me, and I could walk you through the project rather easy.

I am sure that would be considered discrimination. I would word the ad, "perfect atmosphere for a veteran. When I am focusing on Section 8, I always start the ad with "section 8 welcome". All the voucher holders know that is a signal that you target section 8. 

As per damage, I have several tenants that are perfect. Usually just nice older lonely guys who seem to drink a lot, and have some issues, but never bother anyone.  I still have my special out of control vet who is in a world of his own. He makes up the rules as he goes. He likes to entertain every lowlife in the area in his living room. Constant traffic all day.  I like him, and know he has mental issues, but have to lay the law down every 2 months or so. 

Normally I would evict a tenant like this, but I personally like him. He doesn't cause damage, but his many guest do. He pays for it every time, and every time the house is made that much nicer, so as long as I can put up with his behavior, he will continue to live at my rental.

pottsgrove use to be really nice, but things are changing. Taxes are just as high as Pottstown. They are developing 200 new apartments in Sanatoga in the near future. I guess there are some deals in Walnut Ridge, but that has turned into a dump over the years as well. There was a decent deal in West Pottsgrove my friend purchased last week, and another friend of mine picked up a 8 unit apartment building for 250k not long ago.

I have been looking for a decent apartment building outside of Pottstown for some time, but they just don't make sense at the numbers they are selling at the present time. I guess I am spoiled with my 22 cap rates.  

Phoenixville is great for flips if you can find one. We are doing a great flip in Phoenixville right now. Expect a 40 day complete turnaround with an 80k profit. Will know in about 20 days.

I agree with Phoenixville James.. I am flipping a house in Phoenixville as we speak. Right off of Egypt Rd. Nice 4br 3200 SQ/FT typical cookie cutter neighborhood...And I am betting it sells within 2 weeks of listing for close to 400k. Another house I have going on as a flip is in Collegeville. That too is a hot area, at least that has been my experience. 

    Pottstown has its good and bad areas, and you are correct as I grew up in Lower Pottsgrove. The N. End of Pottstown is nice still, but the taxes will kill you. 

     I have a friend of mine who owns 50+ houses in Manyunk investing in Pottstown. Oh Boy, what a change. He is use to renting to yuppies who just got their first feral job in the city and want to be close to main street to spend their extra money in over priced bars...BUT they are decent people...This is going to be interesting..

After reading the above post, find a few investors that tried the standard form of investing used by many in Pottstown....Then ask how well it has worked for them.. Check the values a few years ago, and now and you tell me which bank is extending financing to depreciating areas...and what happens when the loan resets in 5yrs....You guessed it, your coming up with more money..

I own 12 houses in Pottstown. My take after being a landlord there for the last 8 yrs... Well, if you have the money to purchase decent Pottstown properties that are no older than 50yrs and you are willing to appeal the taxes, you have a shot. I think I have been able to do well is because I flip houses (anywhere but Pottstown) and use my rule, flip 3 keep one outright. That formula works for Pottstown. If you are looking to purchase a piece of junk, put as little into it as possible and rent it for top dollar and expect appriciation, you are dreaming. 

    I also don't agree with most investors with the finance end of investing. Most people I know whom invest purchase a property for 30k. They put another 20k into it and attempt to get it appraised for 100k then borrow 80k against it..  

     I on the other hand try to purchase a house (Last one I did) for 31k, put 2 weeks of my time and 6k into it and have it appraised for 64k.(Which I did a few months back). I then rented the house to a tenant I already had but wanted a house verses an apartment for $1165.00 month. NO MORTGAGE, NO REFI..  I live within my means and OWN THE HOUSE OUTRIGHT!!

    I do this because an extremely wealthy investor mentor of mine whom owns 3 shopping strip malls OUTRIGHT...told me to do it this way. He always told me not to get on the kick of "fooling myself that I had arrived." 

    Save the financing and mortgages for larger projects, like the 40 unit complex that comes up. Your in good standings. Lots of cash flowing assets,no debt, looks great to the bank. 

    Very few of you will agree with my opinions. Don't get me wrong, I have a few mortgages, but none are more than 50% value and they are all 15yr fixed. I could extend them to 30yr and make more cash-flow ext, but I WANT TO OWN THEM...

   Just my opinion and I am sure most disagree, which is okay, but I would rather own 12 outright verses 50 leveraged to the hilt for bragging rights....then the market implode and loose it all like I have watched countless friends of mine do exactly that. (But it sure was cool bragging about the 100 units....while they had them, now the bank owns them.) 

$100 an hour..WOW. mine charges $250hr. That is why I don't want to call him. I think he likes to bill me if he is "thinking" about a case while he is eating dinner.

The bottom line is that I need some type of case law to prove my case in court.

Who is to say that they didn't fudge the bill? How do you justify this bill? According to what you just typed, this ex-roofer is charging almost 10 times what your attorney is charging.

I think I need to go into the "Roof Leak Business". the hell with law school or Medical school.