All Forum Posts by: Mike Girard

Thanks for the tip on Wilmington, Damian. 

Thanks Paulette. Super helpful as usual. I don't remember where I got hold of Southwark anyway. Must be in someone's listings.  

I wondered about that vacancy rate. Neighborhood Scout gives scary vacancy rates for a lot of places. 15% for Germantown for instance. It's a variable I hadn't really considered because I didn't realize the spread was so wide. 

Still looking for my perfect first investment. 

There seem to be some good deals in that area, but some of the stats are making me nervous. Neighborhood Scout says the area I'm looking at, 5th St/Mifflin, has a high childhood poverty rate and a vacancy rate of over 11%. Apart from that, it seems pretty dreamy. Any thoughts? 

Awesome, Lisa. 

That's really helpful. It would have never occurred to me to talk to property managers. 

Is there a standard method you REI sages use for finding out what a property is likely to rent for? Left on my own, I'm likely to calculate averages from Craigs List, but that doesn't seem very precise.

Any tips? 

Thank you, Paulette! 

I just realized I misread Paulette on Germantown.  But Mt. Airy is on my list. 

Paulette -

You can 'rattle on' for me anytime! Thanks for all the info. Are there any opportunities to be had around the Pennsport area? Glad to hear about Germantown. Seems to have a lot of viable listings relative to the other places I'm looking at. Will put that one on my list also. 

I don't want to invest in the suburbs. I prefer cities, junkies and all. Appreciate the insider details, though. The more I know about everything in Philly, the better. 

Thanks CC, that's really helpful.  I'm planning to sit down with a mortgage officer in a few weeks. You say I don't need seasoning to refinance. Josh says I need 6 mths to a year. I'm curious about the discrepancy. 

Josh, 

If I said something that suggested I was doing that, I was simply unclear. I am not a speculator. My main interest is cash flow from rent. Appreciation is nice but its secondary. It's gotta pay for itself right off the bat. 

You're the second person who's recommended owner financing. Have no idea what subject-to is but I'll read up. Thanks for the tip.