All Forum Posts by: Nancy L.

I'm having some good success here in Philly. I'd be happy to talk more about different neighborhoods etc if you decide to start looking around here!

Philly has a lot of very different neighborhoods and subsections of the population, like cities within a city. It has some really bad parts where crime is rampant and unemployment is really high, and some really good parts that are reasonably safe and have almost no unemployment. So as far as who your tenants will be, what their job prospects are, and how safe your property will be, it depends on what part of Philly you choose to make your investment in! My observation is that the good neighborhoods have been growing. Also believe I read somewhere that the young, educated, professional population has been growing (sticking around after going to college here -- we have a lot of colleges attracting in people from out of the area). Our job market is also based on largely on academia and health care, both stable/growing industries. There's my pitch for Philly, or part of it anyway! :-)

As far as West Philly, the best parts are in University City, close to Drexel and Penn! Also far on the other side of that area, practically in the suburbs, are sections like Overbrook, which can be nice too. 

@Account Closed Thanks for reading, I'm sure you're right! I'm actually sympathetic with the challenges of the traditional news media structure and their lack of time/resources for researching. Nonetheless, a 10 min internet search on the subject of flipping houses should have given her the background she needed, if not just asking the right questions of the person featured in the article... You'd figure they'd have someone with some kind of business sense writing such articles... Oh well! 

@Rick C. What type of insurance is that? I'm paying more like $100/mnth for my rental properties in Philly, but don't know what it costs to insure a house that's being renovated for a flip. I've actually been wondering that myself.

Welcome @Michael Clark ! I have a few investment properties in Philly and am happy to help in any way I can as you get started!

@Trevor Ewen and @Weis Sherdel I have duplexes in the Mt. Airy and Germantown neighborhoods (19119 and 19144). These areas fly a little more under the radar, and in my experience, have better prices relative to rental income because there is less competition and attention driving up prices. Both neighborhoods have a lot of upper-middle class residents, low-income residents, and everything in between, depending on the particular section. The areas are continuously improving, with bigger developer interest now moving into Germantown. They also have great historical architecture, shopping districts etc. If you start looking in these areas, feel free to ask me about which sections are considered the better ones... I actually live in Germantown myself.

My tenants have been a mix of young professionals and solid blue collar. I've had a social worker, vet tech, teacher, personal trainer, crossing guard/retired postal worker, and so on.

Weis, from your list, you may find the kind of tenants you're looking for in Port Richmond. I'd nix the other two locations. Port Richmond is its own neighborhood and is too far east to be "North Philly." West Philly has a lot of good spots, but those sections are typically referred to as "University City." 

@Brandon Tahincioglu what are your specific concerns about using a turn-key company in your case? As my follow Philadelphian @John Matthews  suggested, a private partner who could co-invest and handle the on the ground management piece for you might be a good solution, if you can find the right partner. I have worked partners who wish to invest in rentals, but have neither the time nor the inclination to do the legwork. I've done all the work to locate, renovate, and rent out, and manage new units, with an agreement in place on splits of the net profits. This has worked out well for them because they've made good returns, and avoided the concerns around turn-key companies as well as the numerous not so glamorous aspects of rental business, such as responding to complaints about clogged plumbing. Feel free to PM me if you're interested to know anything more about how I've been structuring this and what these deals have looked like in the past.

I read this Philly.com article today about a 20 yr rehabber... (Philly.com is the website for our local Philly newspapers.)

http://www.philly.com/philly/classifieds/real_esta...

Anyone else find it troublesome that the article overlooks so many of his costs in computing the profits on the project profiled? They have stated his profits as: 

Profits = ARV - (Purchase Price + Construction Costs)

No mention at all of carrying costs, loan costs (he's using hard money!), closing costs, etc!!! I don't think it's a good thing for anyone when people enter the business with misinformation and unrealistic expectations based on what they see in the media. It's one thing when house flipping shows misrepresent all this, but this is a news article and is something people consider as a dependable source of accurate information!

If anyone else has the time and inclination, I'm sure the Philly.com and its readers would appreciate your comments and emails.

@Julia Rowling Thank you! Great tip!!! Of course that info wouldn't be as current as the current landlord, but I think all these things help paint a picture. 

@Nalo Coban Today's weather: 37 degrees, dark and rainy. Low of 28, 1 - 2" of "snow," aka gray slush, anticipated.