All Forum Posts by: Jen Kurtz

Jed, congrats!! I live in Pittsburgh, love this city! What neighborhood is your PGH property?

Investors in Pittsburgh- where would you say are the best places to find deals on duplexes, tri's, and quad's? This is what I am most interested in. I have Zillow alerts and things like that set up, but where else are good deals found? Do you still use craigs list? Is there anywhere else I am missing where sellers are talking?

I haven't been to any meetups yet since I have moved here, if someone has a good recommendation, I am all ears! Thanks!

@Jonathan Kelly, you're talking about Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation (YNDC)

http://www.yndc.org/

They are doing amazing things. Have really grown in less than a decade. Have been recognized nationally. They have been a model for many other CDC's in the country trying to replicate the same type of thing. Not just revitalizing homes and vacant space, but also community education in financial literacy and home ownership for would-be home owners. They have a program for people that meet certain income criteria by family size to buy the revitalized homes. Very similar to the guidelines for qualifications for Habitat for Humanity homes. Many great homes by the park and on the north side that I would love to go into, look around, and fix up!

100% agree with @Eric P. and @James Wise! There is good and bad pockets in any area. Myself, being from Youngstown, I wouldn't advise buying property unless you can get a good deal in the suburbs where there are things to do and most of the jobs are located. But yes, many many people are leaving this area. Although surprisingly, I do sometimes see some people move into the area. I am always surprised but I just don't let that part show lol :) Definitely have a nice clean, kept, property that can compete with others so you can get those quality renters. The places that lack anything nice and are old and unasthetically pleasing will only get interest from people you do not want interest from (bad credit, no verifiable income, criminals)

I love the midwest. Ohio is a wonderful state and so is PA! Remnants of old industries, but in many places tons of revitalization and new investment, and jobs.

I was curious about morningside opinions too, following this thread!

As far as I am concerned, they are conducting business in your rental and this is a liability. Its not like they are merely blogging or selling items on amazon. I'd let them know right away to cease the activity, and give them a notice to leave- unless you believe they are good tenants to keep and you are certain they stop. If not, then kick them out and go AirBnB for yourself if it in fact is more profitable then regular rent :)

HI Chad, I hope all is well! I have heard of the Master Lease option, but only in an informational way. I have not had any experience with that in real life, so unfortunately I do not have any advice to offer you on that. I also am not sure how that would fit into subsidy agreements if you are still considering the sec 8 route. I would love to hear more from you though if you do explore this further, it would be interesting to hear! :)

@Paul William Meade

I think a great place to start would be to do some research on the housing authority that would serve that area. Sometimes HA's are really great to work with and sometimes they are nightmares. Put some feelers out there locally, and see if you can find out from other sec 8 investors how the local HA is. Secondly, the biggest things here is still screening. Sec 8 voucher or not.

here's my opinion:

Pros- if you have a good housing authority that is willing to work cohesively with you, then you have a 3rd party essentially that helps pay the rent and can also give initiative to the renter to not act out of lease terms (because if they do, they could lose their voucher and be responsible for all of their rent- big incentive to stay on good terms). Also, since their portion is based upon their income- the amount they have to pay will change with changes in income. This helps because when you think of any ordinary renter, if they have a job loss or have to take a paycut, they don't have anyone to help them with that burden. So the risk is less with an income change to  a sec 8 renter *** opposed to conventional renter.

Cons- government subsidy, means government input. A little more rules and inspections to abide by. If they do an interim inspection and find something they don't like then there are a certain amount of days to fix it. If not fixed then the payment is abated. During that time, the renter is not responsible to make up the remainder so you are receiving less rent. Of course there is the negative stigma too.

 So, see if sec 8 fits in the demographic of the property. IMO, the best sec 8 property gets the best sec 8 renter. So if you want to rent to sec 8 and compete for the best sec 8 tenant, have a nice property. These residents are still picky and do have options, in most cases at least where I am. Anywhere that has higher vacancies as a result of declining in population is competing for renters, and so sometimes that will be the case.

Definitely not true. They would have to apply, of course, before they are eligible to get a sec 8 voucher. If they do not already have one in Ytown or in another area that they could port over, then they will have to get on the wait list. If your friend has tenants move in without a sec 8 voucher, then they are just regular renters responsible for their entire rent ;)

@Scott L.

I have a cousin that lives in Ellwood. I've been there once or twice, drank some beers in a cute pub downtown- I think it was called the Pour House? Seems like a cute small area that is pretty quiet, off the highway, and not very far from Pittsburgh- maybe 30-40 minutes? Anyways, goodluck! :)