All Forum Posts by: Robert Cioffi

You can work with a realtor to post your properties for rent in the MLS. That will likely give you the most exposure since the other sites source listings from the MLS.

The benefits of the realtor are experience, time savings and screening. A good realtor will know how best to position your property, give you advice on lease terms and help keep you legal. They probably have a lease you can use. They will handle all of the up-front people interactions, open houses, etc, which is a huge time saver. They will also reduce the "many" applications to just a few according to your instructions. It will be up to you to interview and choose your tenant.

The cost is usually 1 month of rent, which is split between your realtor and the tenant's realtor if they have one. That can be expensive compared to other options. The realtor guarantees nothing beyond signing the lease and does nothing afterward in a traditional engagement. Be careful you don't sign up to pay them another commission if your tenant renews the annual lease!

I have rentals in Delaware County. My vacancies are often filled by word-of-mouth from my existing tenants, then by realtors if I am ready to rent and don't have a tenant lined up. Feel free to DM me if you want to tell me more about your situation. I can recommend an excellent investor's realtor if you are interested.

Thank you, I have decided to use the software with rent direct to screen and list the property. If I don't get any traction in the 1st 2 weeks I will call a realtor to see if they can help me get the vacancies filled. So stressed taking the plunge.

0 Votes

Quote from @Michael Smythe:

How much are you budgeting to lose due to your inexperience?

hopefully will break even

0 Votes

1st time landlord. Closing on 2 properties by end of December. Need to find tenants. Rentec Direct does screening and lists on websites $500 per year. Property management will do everything but wants 1st month plus 85 per month.... Will a realtor be an option to find tenants? Do they screen? In new jersey the tenants pay a fee to realtor. Not sure if same in Pennsylvania. Any advice?

1 Vote

Bought two properties. New construction. Suburb of philly. Property management wants one month rent plus $85 per month. I am thinking of using rent direct instead. Worried of screwing up. Any thoughts?

0 Votes

hello, trying to break into my 1st property. inventory scarce and expensive in NJ where I live. looking at some new construction in developments surrounding Philly. just don't have experience or time to rehab even if I find a property I am interested in trying to buy and rehab. Does anyone have experience in buying new from developers and then renting out long term. cash flow limited but upkeep will be minimal. and attractive to higher demographic of renters.

any feedback?

0 Votes

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

When reading about FHA loans I found that one of the requirements are it may not be an investment property. There are many blogs and posts and podcasts about using an FHA loan to purchase a multi family home so I imagine using one of the units as your primary residence mitigates this requirement. It would be viewed as your primary residence but have the added benefit of being income producing. If someone plans to use the extra units for mid term rentals and the primary residence would be the home owners primary residence but their work brings them out of the area for 3 weeks out of the month so they would like to utilize their primary residence as a short term rental utilizing site like airbnb to gain income when they do not need stay stay at their primary residence. Does it matter if this is the home owner's plan? Would this be within the legal limits when seeking an FHA loan?

0 Votes

Jersey City, New Jersey

All Forum Posts by: Robert Cioffi

Robert Cioffi has started 4 posts and replied 6 times.

Post: 2 new construction in suburb philly

Post: 1st time investor

Post: 2 new construction in suburb philly

Post: 1st time investor

Post: new construction vs getting run down property and rehabbing

Post: 1st time buyer fha loan multi family regulations