All Forum Posts by: Mark B.

This would be N 6th st near sumner ave. And besides for the few cosmetic issues, very good shape

 Yes, i added in i believe 4k for closing costs and 1k for immediate repairs.  And thanks!

Yup! Aiming for 30 year fixed

 Okay thanks.  This one is nice in that there isnt any common electric.  Each unit even has their own exterior entrance. 

And I'll bump up vacancy the extra 50 to make it 10%.  Thank you

@Account Closed Hi! Wanted to throw my 2 cents in since im currently analyzing a deal that my guess is pretty similar to yours

Here is my post if you wanted to comparte my numbers against yours

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/88/topics/496...

1- If there are any common areas, make sure you have an owners meter .  At least in allentown, pa, any common areas need to be metered separately from the tenants.  That costs me 25/mo just to have a meter hooked up for hallway/basement lights

2- i get billed 50/unit for management , so 8% seems solid

3- I talked to a few lenders, and for non owner occupied investment multi's, they want 25% down and rates of around 4.8-5%.  One lender was willing to let me buy down to 4% , but i havent run the numbers to see if its worth it.

4- I think its still a decent deal.  Youre getting over 100$ per door and if there is room for rent increases it could be a very decent cash flowing property!

TLDR - 92k asking, 25% down, duplex, 1500 rent , 1200 expenses

Good morning all.

I have an off market deal that I was hoping to get a little feedback on. 

I believe this should net me around 125-150 per door.  The property is currently rented and in livable condition.  The first floor could use a solid cleaning and minor painting such as kitchen cabinets.  the second floor is kept VERY clean

Any criticisms would be greatly appreciated!

Property Details:

Location - Northside of Allentown, Pa

Size - 1700 sq ft

Units - Unit 1 - 2 bedroom, 1st floor and basement.   Unit 2 - 2 bedroom, 2nd floor

Shared Areas - Backyard

Tenant pays heat/electric

Landlord - water/sewer/trash

Not to derail at all, by why Ruby on Rails? I work with VB.net (job) and python (hobby).  Is Ruby on rails something that I should look into learning next?

If you have a tenant interested with it in its current condition and the tenant has been properly screened and checks out... i would do the bare minimum.  like @Deanna McCormick said, its a can of worms.  I would make sure its thoroughly cleaned, walls patched/fixed if there are any holes.  That alone will make it feel much nicer in there
i started work on one of the units in my first property a few months ago and it snowballed fast.  what should have been carpets and paint turned into close to a full gut job.  I'm definitely not getting my money back for the work i did, i just got carried away and was learning how to do all of the stuff (which i guess does have some value in itself)

I agree with what @Joe Scaparra said.  Once you have the separate bank accounts set up, I would just let the money sit there for a year and see where you end up.  I bought a 4 unit back in December and was worried about what I would do with all the money I had at the end of the first year.  7 months later and I'm worried if I'll have any at all lol.

Once you do set up your reserves, I would look at the situation you in and what your goals are.  For me, I want to keep the money separated and use it towards my next down payment.  If i was not in a growth phase, i would probably use the CF to start paying down my mortgages to get the big CF sooner

There are many good places to invest in PA as previous posters have mentioned.  I would go take a weekend and drive through some areas if you can to see the types of areas we have here.  If you are liking them, definitely make a trip to meet with some property managers in the areas you are choosing.  I would not want to self manage with the commute from brooklyn to anywhere in PA

I like @Timothy Gleason's ideas.  I think i would first see if you could sell the top area to the neighbor.  If not, potentially you could move the driveway/parking up to the top of the property and if the zoning permits, build an addition to the house and add a unit or two?  Seems like there would be plenty of space to add additional units to the property where the current parking is