All Forum Posts by: Rich O'Neill

Quote from @Chris Leung:

Hey @Rich O'Neill i spoke with somebody from Aaron and they told me they didnt know how to do an assignment deal/transaction. Can you me in contact with Janene? Much appreciated!

@Kevin Paulk i spoke with somebody from Prosperity and they didn't know how to do assignment deal/transaction.

@Rob Lawrence Vanguard settlement services told me they didnt know how to do assignment deal/transaction.

 Will message you now. Thanks

Quote from @Account Closed:

Property taxes in these outlining areas will kill most buy & hold investments (except maybe in Chester). However, you need to be absolutely clear about your investment goals first before tackling any of your aforementioned boroughs. 

Property taxes are tough there, but I was able to get most of mine reduced 30+% by appealing them. I have an attorney that handles the whole process for half of the first years savings as a fee. More than reasonable in my opinion. 

Quote from @Dustin Verley:

What are everyones' thoughts on surrounding areas are Philly- more so South of it. Think Sharon Hill, Eddystone, Chester, etc. The more suburban areas around there... opportunities present?

 I have a few in Sharon Hill. They are ok, but I find the tenants to be a little tougher. I like a little further north better, in Collingdale. I am not a fan of Chester or Eddystone. There are plenty of people that make good money in those areas, but you need to be ready to deal with tough tenants. 

Quote from @Kevin Paulk:

@Karl Washington

Don't know what your project looks like but I think if your doing a typical PHILLY         row-house (1100 sqft -1500 sqft) Maybe 3/1 or 3/2.

You can get away with pricing the rehab by square footage. Just make sure that the 

contractors that are giving you their bids, they do those type of projects all day.

But in the last 6 months I've seen $95 to $120 per sqft. 

While this is true, as a contractor I always get very anxious when clients ask me for this number or have an expectation. I ALWAYS explain to them that there are far too many factors involved in a renovation project to accurately estimate this. Even a “full gut” has nuance that varies from project to project. Is the framing all staying? Is the exterior being completely redone? Does the roof need to be replaced? If the roof needs to be replaced, how many sheets of plywood need to be replaced? It’s too much to estimate and I would argue that if someone is giving you that number, they either don’t understand their numbers or they do and they have so much wiggle room (profit) built into their number that they can afford to give you a blanket number like that. The only time a price per square foot number makes some sense is in new construction, and even then there can be variations in current conditions like the soil types, is underpinning required, are utilities already tapped, etc. 

In short, be VERY cautious about a price per square foot number and only use it for rough, initial estimating purposes. 

@Ethan Dolberry-Wescott what specifically are you looking for from these developers? A job? A contractor? Advice?

It sounds to me like the lack of return air is a major factor. it could also be a lack of insulation in that room, or an excessively large window with single pane glass. 

One trick I have used with varying levels of success is to cut the door height up a little bit to allow more air to pass underneath. This isn't ideal in a co-living situation. 

The other thing you could do is use a passive air return that utilizes the stud bays. You cut a hole near the floor in a stud bay of a wall in the cold room adjacent with a warm hallway, then a hole near the top of that same stud bay in the warm hallway, both covered with air return grates. The lower pressure in the hallway (assuming this exists because of the presence of an air return) should pull colder air from the floor of the room into the warmer hallway and allow more air flow through the supply in the cold room. It is preferable to do this on a wall further away from the cold room's supply vent, but not critical. I hope this makes sense. This is a cheap "try it out" method that may or may not help. 

Hope it helps! 

Quote from @Eric Greenberg:

Id personally just pay it even if it werent used for 6 months to not have it lapse unless you are very confident that your zoning/variance will not have any issues. 

Ive never done a owner occupant rental but when a normal rental’s license lapses and gets paid sometime after will start again when your original license expired. I.e. license renewal is 2/1 and you let it expire and pay for a new one on 6/1, it will expire on 2/1 of the next year, not 6/1. Im sure you could get around this but it may take many hours of your time unless you can change the occupant to something similar to ‘vacant’.  My own personal hell is dealing with the city about these types of things. 

 Agreed. I have never done a rental license myself or had this exact situation but I deal with a lot of permits in the city and the best bet is to not rock the boat whenever possible. If it's going to expire, the renewal is usually much easier than an new original application. Like @Eric Greenberg said sometimes the rental license is tied to an ongoing zoning classification or variance and letting it expire could cause you headaches there. @Kira DAnnunzio told me a story about her duplex where the prior owner never got a license and she had a nightmare of a time just getting the city to acknowledge that it was properly zoned for a duplex as it had always been. 

@Rami Khaldi talk to @Jimmy Lynn. He can get you set up and is local. 

Credit boxes are tightening up with the market, so it is a bit harder to get financing as a newbie. If the deal is good and it isn't new construction, you should be able to find a home. Most lenders I have seen look at your credit score, investing history, cash in the bank, and the deal itself. Some may want to see some income, especially for a newbie, but not always. 

@Jimmy Lynn anything to add to that?

Quote from @Eric Greenberg:

Quote from @Ross Hyman:

I'm a licensed New Jersey agent, who was born and raised in Philadelphia. I am interested in wholesaling in the Philly market. I've watched the recent trend in Fishtown and past trends in Manayunk and Northern Liberties. Is Philly a worthwhile market for wholesaling? If so, which neighborhoods should I focus and do you have any advice or guidance? 

I live and invest in Philly but dont wholesale myself but do get a number of email blasts from multiple wholesalers in Philly everyday. It honestly seems like a very hard business to get into without spending a good amount of money/time trying to find leads up front. 

If it were me Id reach out to some of the local wholesalers and talk to them to understand if thats really the path id want to go down  again matters your goals & strategies to get there  

I do know there are newer laws that you may want to review

https://www.phila.gov/services...

Thread

https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

 

 @Eric Greenberg is right. There is a ton of competition in the city. https://www.opendataphilly.org... makes it really easy to get data, therefore people get bombarded by wholesalers. This is at least partially why those laws were passed. 

I think there is a big opportunity in Delaware County or Chester County. I get tons of email blasts and it seems like the only Delco and Chesco deals that come through are ones that the wholesaler stumbled upon. If someone focused on that market I think there is a lot of opportunity. Flip side is that I have heard that Delco sellers are difficult to negotiate with. 

@Chris Leung I always use Aaron Abstract. Janene is awesome. A lot of people use Prosperity Abstract as well, but I find the experience better with Aaron.