All Forum Posts by: Leonard Brown

Andrew you’ll have to vet whoever it is whether licensed trades specifically or GC. What you have to consider is whether or not you have the time, capacity, and desire to manage multiple contractors or manage the manager (the GC). Seeing as how you have two projects underway and an already delayed timeline, I would suggest opting to go the GC route consider time and money already lost. You may want to chat with @Richard O’Neill or Maybach Construction for projects here in Philly  

Hi Michael, 

Congrats on taking the leap. There’s a company currently doing a lot of work in East Cleveland. Maybach Construction Cleveland. 

@Gajan Vivek hi Gaian, welcome to BP.

A great place to start is A Breakdown of Philadelphia Neighborhoods and Values

 @Jimmy O’Connor breaks it all down.

Second, scan the Philadelphia forums for discussions about particular neighborhoods. The activity should shed light on opportunity areas.

Call a pest control company. The inspection should be free and the certificate will cost you a couple hundred bucks. A clean WDIR from a termite expert should be more than suffice. 

There are times when I was called out to a home to inspect a specific area noted in a report just to rule it out and other times where inspectors clear a house only for me to come and and find termites a month after closing. 

If there is evidence of structural damage though, they can only quote you for remediation so you would have to find that contractor. 

BP has a great episode with Bryce Stewart about this area. I believe Bethlehem is his market. Here’s the episode: https://youtu.be/wl3pQQtUx50

@Kameeka Shirle cost of repair will be based on the extent of the damage. It would be wise to have a pest control company inspect the structure to determine whether it needs remediation for an active infestation which should be ~ $10/sq. ft. but the inspections are normally free.

@Mike Hern You may want to take a deeper look at the market if “rough” is a concern. Philly is no different than any other major market when come to neighborhood classes except maybe where boundaries of the neighborhood class begins and ends. What’s your investment goal? That determines whether or not you’ll ever have to deal with the rough parts of Philly, which isn’t recommended for OOS investors. Development is everywhere in the city right now, so it’s very doable regardless of the area. What it comes down to is the investor.

@Mario Gonzalez I'm echoing what @Rich O'Neill has said. The ones making a killing in the STR market in Philly are using the arbitrage model. Investors who use the STR model usually fine tune the properties for this specific use but cut the property up in a way that LTR is still an option if the short-term market is disrupted.

It may be worth also doing some field research to see how these guys are operating. Most are using automated processes which is an additional expense.

@Mark Edler congrats on your first BRRR. A lot of hard lesson but ultimately a notch in the win column.

@Marcus Auerbach great post! I’m dealing with an OOS investor now. New to my market and stubborn on his process. A lot of newbies are fixated on the ideal situations we’re all accustomed to hearing on the videos and podcasts from seasoned investors. The most problematic thing I’m seeing is they are buying a property just because it’s a deal with no knowledge of the local market, a pre-planned rehab budget (not actually associated with the property in question), and the expectation of a stellar return. That’s simply not how real estate works.