All Forum Posts by: Justin Brin

Quote from @Jamie Dietz:

Two things to consider are the steps and weather.  A lot of Pittsburgh is built on hillsides but property a lot of steps can be treacherous in winter.   It can be turn off tenants and future buyers.  When I moved from Los Angeles to Pittsburgh everything appeared to be a great deal so make sure you have boots on the ground here before buying.  

Good point! Thanks!

Hi @Jeremy Taggart I noticed the population in Pittsburgh is declining. This means there are many vacant units there because of it?

@Rodney Lorenzo Compared to the other buildings in your area how does yours look? How it looks outside how it looks inside? How is the flooring or the paint job?

Maybe if you install new vinyl plank floors with a nice paint job and some new door knobs you can make your units look much better and attract a bit better tenants? This should not cost much.

If you want you can DM some pics and I might be able to suggest some low costs fixes that can improve the look?

For the future, I have a rule for myself, I will never buy a property that I do not see myself living in it. If I do not feel safe in the area I will not get close.

To attract better tenants maybe offer 1 month free in the first year, Maybe lower rents just to get a bit better tenants?

Usually higher cashflow properties means there is more risk in them that's why the cashflow is better.

You usually want lower cashflow properties but with better appreciation in the long run.

Ultimately, consider this experience as a valuable learning opportunity.
You now have a better understanding of where to focus your search and
what to avoid. Think of any losses as a form of tuition in the school of
real estate investment, which will undoubtedly serve you well in future
endeavors.

What do you think of Pittsburgh, PA?

I'm trying to analyze this deal:

Address: 61 Pointview Rd Pittsburgh, PA 15227

Price heatmap:

Crime map:

What do you think? Do you recommend Pittsburgh, PA?

Quote from @Brandon Goldsmith:

I personally invest in Ohio, but it depends on what you are looking for inventory-wise. Value add turnkey, multifamily. Might be a good option to sort that too on what your strategy is and the type of available product. @Justin Brin

 I would say I would like to build equity. Not too much headaches (meaning fairly good tenants). Cashflow not negative.

Quote from @Robert Ellis:

Quote from @Justin Brin:

Quote from @Alfath Ahmed:

Quote from @Justin Brin:

Here is a list of 17 metros in the US that have population larger than 900k and median house price is below 400k:

Which metro you recommend and which metro you don't recommend?

I know California is not so investor friendly due to high taxes and non landlord friendly regulation.

Florida has high insurance costs in some areas?!

What do you think?

I recommend the Columbus market is a great place for out-of-state investors to start their investing. It is a major tech hub in the midwest with large companies like Intel investing $20 billion, Amazon investing $3.5 billion, Google building 2 new data centers: one in downtown Columbus and the other in right outside of U.S. 33 in Lancaster.

Currently, there are only 3 C class areas in Columbus. They are Hilltop, Whitehall, and South Linden. BRRRR's and flips are only available in this area. The average home prices went up between 24-35% this past year in this area. These areas are projected to turn into C+/B- within the next 1.5-2 years.

How you think is Columbus vs Indianapolis?  Where there will higher quality tenants? 

 not even close. go to jobsohio.com and see why. Most new construction jobs after only New York and Dallas, fastest growing millennial population, more mega projects, on and on and on. ohio state university, state capital, larger population

 Interesting. I looked in Indeed.com and searched for jobs within 25 miles, full time and found that Columbus and Indianapolis had similar job count (Around 16k). Is there any other way to compare job counts?

@Ofir R. Real estate power is not really in cashflow. If you want lots of cashflow maybe open a casino or a gas station.

Real estate real power is in appreciation and building equity.  With Real Estate you can leverage your investment get tax benefits and over time build exponential growth in equity tax free. 

8k a month is like $1M in 10 years. Many investors reached much higher equity in 10 years with 500k investments.

For example lets assume you buy a property for $1.6M with 400k down (25% down) and keep 100k for backup for repairs, vacancy maintenance etc.

Lets assume the YoY appreciation in that area was 7% and your mortgage interest rate was 7%.

In 10 years from now the property will be worth: $3.1M and $1M debt this means you will have now equity of $2.1M. This is $17,500/month for 10 years.

On cashflow of 8K you will pay like 3k taxes so you will be left with 600k in 10 years while in the equity method you will have $2.1M

Quote from @Alfath Ahmed:

Quote from @Justin Brin:

Here is a list of 17 metros in the US that have population larger than 900k and median house price is below 400k:

Which metro you recommend and which metro you don't recommend?

I know California is not so investor friendly due to high taxes and non landlord friendly regulation.

Florida has high insurance costs in some areas?!

What do you think?

I recommend the Columbus market is a great place for out-of-state investors to start their investing. It is a major tech hub in the midwest with large companies like Intel investing $20 billion, Amazon investing $3.5 billion, Google building 2 new data centers: one in downtown Columbus and the other in right outside of U.S. 33 in Lancaster.

Currently, there are only 3 C class areas in Columbus. They are Hilltop, Whitehall, and South Linden. BRRRR's and flips are only available in this area. The average home prices went up between 24-35% this past year in this area. These areas are projected to turn into C+/B- within the next 1.5-2 years.

How you think is Columbus vs Indianapolis?  Where there will higher quality tenants? 

What you ended up doing with SFH#2 is on the East side of Indy? You just rented it out?

I guess it makes sense that Multi family units will bring in less quality tenants but if you buy it in a better area and it's in better condition I guess you can still bring good enough tenants?

In LA you can add ADUs so many investors buy properties with alleys or on a corner lot and build an ADU with 2-3 bedrooms and rent it out for good rent but then I think you are subject to rent control since then your property turns into multi-family and in LA there is rent control on multi-family (It might be harder to get insurance now a days for the ADU because of the current insurance crisis in California).

Riverside, CA is cheaper than LA but even there I don't think you will cashflow. Unless you put a higher downpayment. 

I heard about Palmdale, Lancaster, CA. They are 1 hour drive from LA and newer houses and have good rents. There might be an option. Prices went up there a lot in recent years. They have a job market there and LA is only 1 hour away so defiantly tenants can find there a job. In rush hour it will take longer than 1 hour but still many drive to Santa Clarita or LA for jobs.

Quote from @Bob Stevens:

Quote from @Justin Brin:

Here is a list of 17 metros in the US that have population larger than 900k and median house price is below 400k:

Which metro you recommend and which metro you don't recommend?

I know California is not so investor friendly due to high taxes and non landlord friendly regulation.

Florida has high insurance costs in some areas?!

What do you think?

 There is a reason investor from around the world have been buying for the last 10 years and still are buying in the Cleveland markets. If you got in , 7 8 years ago, you doubled tripled or more on top of the 20% net caps. I just locked up 7 more last week, all are under 90k, all have rents from 1100- 1400, all have values from 115k- 125k . MF, try finding one, there is simply no inventory. 

All the best 

I guess Cleveland might be a good option. 

I was wondering did Cleveland market crash really bad in the last Real estate crash in 2008-2011?