Hello @John Crafton and @Zahid Ali. Thanks for inquiring about my experience with NEPA. Yes I did have some undesirable experiences, and I believe some of it may have to do with bad timing. There are folks who are doing well in the NEPA market and I would encourage you to reach out to them for pitfalls to avoid. I am now focusing on the mid-west market, but may look back at the NEPA market once I get the right team in place.
Below are the list of issues that I experienced:
1) I had a difficult time finding a real estate agent that was willing to work with me. It may have been timing, but it appeared as if many of the local agents were too busy to take on new clients. A fellow investor introduced me to a couple agents and I made contact with them. But after a few discussions, I would not hear from the agent again. After a month, I finally did find an agent after my friend made a formal introduction.
2) I had two deals fall through after offers were accepted in the Wilkes-Barre region. The first deal fell through due to an underwriting error by my lender. Just before my closing, my lender informed me that I didn't meet the underwriting requirements and they informed me that they couldn't close. Two (2) months later, the lender informed me that the underwriter made an error and I met the requirements to close. I tried to save the deal by using another lender, but the seller didn't not want to grant me an extension and pulled the property from the market. The second deal that fell through, was borderline obnoxious. My agent recommended a listing from someone in her brokerage and we put it under contract. We lost the deal because the deposit reportedly came in too late. There was a requirement for the deposit to be provided within 5 days of contract execution, and the seller's agent decided to use that provision to kill the deal.
3) While working with my agent throughout the summer, I would inquire about the local Property Management (PM) and I wasn't hearing great things. I was left with the impression that the quality of service was substandard and contract terms were not great for an investor. Even some of the local investors that I connected with did not provide favorable feedback and it was suggested that I self manage, which was a non-starter for me.
In summary, I had some troubles getting my first deal in NEPA and coupled with the information I was receiving about Property Management, I decided to work in a different market. To me it was very critical to have the core team in place to ensure success with investing out of state, including the Agent, Property Manager, and Contractor.
