All Forum Posts by: Josh Lang

As a "young professional" in pittsburgh i would also recomend the popular areas as well (Lawrenceville, Shadyside, Bloomfield, east lib, north side). I lived in DC for a few years and had friends living in shared houses, was very common there. In pittsburgh its not as common so i see alot of my peers being weary of it. I dont see many of us in Pittsburgh renting by the room in the more outskirts areas as rent can be cheap enough in those areas, you will probably want to be as close to the popular areas as possible. I suggest trying to work in some "ammenities" to sweaten the deal (cleaning service, furnished, shared toiletries,etc..). You would probably have luck with people coming to Pittsburgh from out of town/country for shorter terms who want to be close to work. 

I recently just closed on my first rental property investment. Alot of the BP podcasts talk extensively about the importance of honing in on your niche and partnering up with others to do things your not as good at.... During the process I got absolutely hooked on analyzing properties to determine if they would be good opportunities and if not determining at what price they would be good opportunities based on rental rates/comps in the area. I did some extensive analysis (without getting into paralysis!) and statistical projections in excel along with some more qualitative analysis once I had a short list developed (all based on the BiggerPockets body of knowledge!) I was able to use this to hone in on three potential properties that all made sense on paper at various prices and rent rates(one of which I ended up getting a  20% under list price cash flowing deal in a hot local market) 

I do alot of side work as a tech engineer completing small freelance projects using sites like UpWork that I can do in my spare time as needed. I am not able to jump right into my second deal just yet so for the time being I would love to keep the wheels turning and help others analyze deals in a similar freelance type fashion to really hone my skills further. I understand wholesalers do alot of this but with my current schedule I don't have the time and resources to get into wholesale deals just yet

I am curious if their any non-wholesalers out there with a similar knack for the "analysis" portion of things that have been able to make some small side money doing freelance type deal analysis for other investors? If so, do you have any tips for getting your name out there? 

Thanks Tian, Alex, and Anthony! I was actually able to just get an offer accepted on a 3br upper Lawrenceville property closer to the cemetery side and on the flatter part near Butler St. It made good sense on paper as a traditional rental investment after I do some upgrades so I plan on house hacking it for a year then rent it out after. 

Do either of you have any airbnb insight into this part of town? Looking at comparables it looks like I'd be in the $150/night range which works out to ~$2000+/mon assuming 50% minus the airbnb fees. This is a few hundred more than I project I could presumably charge in rent so curious if the extra juice is worth the squeeze. 

It would be a whole house 3br with no designated parking (seems to be easily available on the street from my personal experience) that I would self manage myself 

I am looking to purchase a house hack in the South Side flats neighborhood of Pittsburgh. The property has a finished basement with full bath and seperate entrance that I am doing some research on as a potential AirBnb unit while i live in the top portion of the house. I have done some research and am clear on what i can charge given the size of the rental (small studio with a full bath and small kitchenette) minus any fees and city taxes. I am looking for some information however on the expected occupancy rate in the area so that i can project my returns on the investment. Are there any AirBnb hosts out there in Pittsburgh that can shed some light on what to expect regarding an expected occupancy rate in South Side?

*assume pre/post-covid when things are more normal