All Forum Posts by: Kenneth Soles

Sounds like a real mess Bridget.  As Michael Gessner mentioned you need to have a title search done on these tax sale properties before you buy them.  You can get some great deals but get burned also.  Yea sometimes you have to pay for the search and don't end up buying it.  However its a cost of doing business when you are buying tax sale properties.  

You need to consult an attorney in your area who is very familiar with tax sales in Pennsylvania.  Ask a local real estate investing facebook group for attorney recommendations.  Good luck to ya

Hey Tim.  Theres actually a couple meet up groups in Westmoreland county focusing on investment real estate. One is really close to Latrobe. It meets up at Giannilli’s II. The other one meets in North Huntington. Check out the meet up app

I agree with Jon Kelly.  I would reduce the rent.  If your property is nice inside I think you can find a tenant who would overlook the neighbors eyesore yard.  Get someone in there and then address the privacy wall issue.  

Hi Scott,  on the county website you need to get onto the GIS Parcel viewer. You can do a search by address. Once found on the map, click on it and the owner name and address will appear.  Hopefully this helps. If not let me know

Hey Kris.  I use Mike Blissman.  He’s located in Latrobe, near the airport.  He’s a real estate investor and is active in the local real estate meetup groups.  I’ve been happy with him.  Definitely recommend. 

Hi Derek.  So I don't own anything in the city of Pittsburgh but do have rental properties in the surrounding counties of Westmoreland, Fayette and Washington.  I would be really concerned that it is a triplex but only zoned for a duplex. So it sounds like it is unpermitted.  Not sure about how the city of Pittsburgh would work but it may be really difficult to get the zoning changed.  You would need to ensure that there is adequate parking so I am sure that is one thing the zoning officials will be looking for.  

Probably most concerning is the fact that if the city would approve it they would probably require a sprinkler system be installed because of the third unit.  I ran into this in Fayette County with a similar situation.  It was a duplex that we wanted to change to a triplex.  It was approved by the county but the sprinkler system was a deal killer so we didn't go through with it.

If you do end up buying it and need legal advice I would recommend Attorney Brad Dornish.  He is very active in the real estate group Acre of Pittsburgh and is very knowledgeable in real estate and landlord/tenant issues.

Hi Brad,  I see that you are a local investor.  So I am actually selling a guy a fixer upper on a land contract and closed on another land contract sale a couple of years ago.  From the buyers perspective if you can find a seller that will do a land contract you are pretty fortunate.  With the passage of Dodd-Frank a few years back it really put alot or restrictions and regulations on land contracts.  Dodd-Frank has given sellers some protections in land contracts so if things go bad you would want to pursue that avenue. As far as cons to the buyer is the fact that if you miss a payment then the seller can get possession back pretty easily.  So make sure you stay current on payments because you will be putting money into it on the rehab and you would lose all of that.  For an owner finance there is a foreclosure process that needs to be followed if the buyer defaults on the loan.  

I would suggest that if the seller is receptive to the idea, then have the signed contract recorded on the property deed at the courthouse at the recorder of deeds office so it becomes a matter of record.

Hi Steve.  Welcome to BiggerPockets.  I am a buy and hold investor in Westmoreland and Washington County.  In normal circumstances I would give you some information on a couple of meetups in the area.  However with the Covid thing going on they have all been cancelled.  Perhaps we should schedule a call sometime soon and compare notes on our real estate investing activities.  You did mention wholesaling.  Certainly if you have some deals you are trying to move I would certainly be interested in learning more about them.

At the magistrates level you don't need a lawyer if it's in an LLC. However if it gets elevated above the magistrates level you should be represented by an attorney

I’ve done this quite a few times. As long as the lender knows that you are using the funds to free up your other credit lines it shouldn’t be an issue.  The lender might not hand you a check for the full refi amount. They may make payment directly to your short term credit lines so they are comfortable that those are reconciled. I use Somerset Trust. Send me a colleague request and I will send you the contact info to the loan officer I use