All Forum Posts by: Pat Hamilton

I own a 3 family home in West Philadelphia that I've been trying to sell.  Lately (past few weeks) there has been more interest, but it's been dismal to say the least.

@Drew Sygit I did not hire the cheapest PMC.  This is one of the biggest ones in Philadelphia, they take 8% and charge for every little thing.  They are awful with maintenance, but are excellent at collecting fees :)

I wanted to provided a bit of an update:

I tried to contact the inspector but it is impossible to get through by phone. The property manager gave me a huge estimate to fix the issues, which I promptly paid, but it is still taking them forever to finish the work!  The city inspector apparently came out to the property 4 more times and cleared some of the violations (I'm getting this information from the city website, not from anyone else).  I'm in the process of evicting the tenant, apparently it takes a long time in Philadelphia.

@Scott Mac

I also do not want anyone living in sub-standard or health hazard conditions!  Of course I want them fixed but my property manager is saying the tenant is not providing access....rescheduling constantly!!!!  

@Bob Stevens

Thank you for your response.  I am highly considering selling. 

I own a property in Philadelphia which is managed by a professional management company.  My tenant had not been paying rent for months due to maintenance issues.  The property management company says that the tenant always reschedules maintenance requests and implies that the tenant is just avoiding paying rent.  They recommended starting the eviction process, which I did.  Apparently the tenant called the city of Philadelphia and I now have a ton of violations to resolve.  They property management company is very slow in responding to me and the clock is ticking.  It appears there are hefty fines for not resolving the issues within 30 days.  30 days is quickly approaching and I don't know what to do.  I call my property management company frequently and they keep saying "we are in the process of sending a vendor out"....Even getting an estimate for the repairs is like pulling teeth.  I'm disappointed in my tenant and the property management company.  Should I call the city inspector directly and request an extension?  How are these things handled in practice?  Some of the violations are simple fixes.    I have very little experience, but as the owner I am ultimately responsible for the cost....no one else seems to care!!!!!!

Hi Ravi,

I feel your pain.  I'm having serious issues with my tenants!  I have decided to sell, but I'm finding that that isn't easy either.  The home has been on the market for 3 months with very little interest.  Once, I'm able to sell, I'll keep that money in a high interest yielding vehicle, then try my hand at investing in real estate again. I feel like prices with drop and there will be deals galore in the future.

@Eddie L.

Yeah, I should probably get a professional tax preparer at some point.  I'm just barely breaking even with my real estate investment, so I'm trying to do everything myself.  Plus, I had an awful experience with a "professional tax preparer" years ago.  They just sat in front of the computer with the H&R Block computer program and just asked me for numbers which they plugged in.  I figured, I could just buy the program and do that myself.

But going forward, for next year, I think I will try a professional tax preparer. I live in New York so I hope the New York preparer knows the oddities of the Philadelphia Tax System.  

@Eddie L.

Wow...thanks for the clarification.

I called the Philadelphia tax department a few times, including times when I was on hold for hours until the system abruptly hung up.  It's awful!

Anyway, it was 0 help.  They told me they can't give me tax advice, they just confirmed that I need to pay the tax and they confirmed that it's normal for it to be in my personal name (with my personal ss#) instead of my llc's ein number, because I am the sole member.  She said something about a "disregarded entity"

Anyway, I decided to just add all my income and subtract my expenses and put that magic (unfortunately very low number) on Worksheet B (this is the non-resident one ---- which is another long story...I don't live in Pennsylvania but my LLC's virtual mailbox is there....so not sure if it's resident or non-resident...but since they are using my personal ss# instead of ein I figure it's non resident....the difference is so minor though, so i'm tempted to file as resident just to avoid any hassle)

Do any other cities have this ridiculous additional tax on investment properties?  The hassle of getting a rental license and this additional cost makes Philadelphia less desirable for investment.  Also, they make it so difficult for people like me who want to do everything right but are having a hard time understanding/following the tax rules. 

I am in the process of doing my taxes and was able to register on the new tax center website.  My rental properties do not earn over 100k/year so I was able to file the BIRT easily, but I'm confused regarding the NPT tax portions.  The worksheets asks so many questions, most do not seem to apply.  The ones that do apply are:

Rented Property (at 8 times the net annual rental) ______________

Total average value of Property used within Philadelphia and everywhere, respectively __________

I just own one investment rental property in Philadelphia...why does it want to know "everywhere" I don't get it.  Isn't there an easier way to complete. 

I just want to multiply my net profit by 3.4481% (nonresidents) write them a check and go on with my life.  Is there an easier way to do this?

I have a 3 family building which I started renting out in the summer. My PECO bill for the public light account has been crazy high for the past few month (this month being $650, during the summer it was $100).  The only thing I can think of is that the wiring was not done correctly and I'm paying for the tenants heat.  I'm not sure if there is a heating unit in the hallways, I need to check it out.  I know I provide light and the fire alarm system.  Once I make it out there and walk through the building, I will check to see if there are heating units in the hallways.  If so, I want to turn them off.  Is this okay?  Do I have to heat the hallways?  Maybe it's the hot water heater????