All Forum Posts by: Roxanna Pifer

Hi Jason. I'm north of Bethlehem and have 2 sfh and am under contract for a duplex. Love my realtor if you would like a recommendation. I'm actively trying to find a decent property manager if hear of any!

Here are a few local tips I have found to be important. I have two sfh's in our area (I'm also right near Portland). I find that we need to be a bit above the 1% rule because the taxes are on the higher side for an investor. Also, you didn't mention, but a big consideration for me when buying in our area is public water, sewer and the oil burner, which are all very common. If you area dealing with a tenant and an old cesspool you need to be aware that could be a huge cost if they wreck it. Same with private well. 

Stroudsburg and East Stroudburg have ok areas, you just have to be careful. Try looking into Northampton county which is right below the Burg's of Monroe county. This is where I invest because the taxes in Monroe county are much much higher.

Thanks for the reference, I'll check them out.

We actually built new down there. We stayed away from the condos and away from the actual beach. If you go inland just a few mile the insurance is much cheaper and with a sfh as compared to a condo the HOA are very low. House was $172k renting at $1550 a month. It's brand new so there should be very little in repairs or cap ex for quite some time. Building was about the same cost as buying used. We are hoping to retire to this home in 2-10 years and figured we'd buy why rates are cheap and let someone else pay the mortgage for awhile. If it were strictly for investment we would probably not be investing down there. We talked to some people (banker, pm, etc) about a weekly rental property but seems it would make more sense if you wanted to use the place yourself and not too concerned with making money.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a property manager?

At the moment I have 2 sfh in between the Lehigh Valley and the Poconos and am having a hard time finding someone reasonable. We currently self manage but would like to turn them over as well as purchasing a few multi families in the very near future.

We have a sfh in Myrtle Beach and love our pm down there so I know good ones exist.

I see I'm a bit late to this thread but here's my insight. Many of the homes in Tobyhanna area in a large HOA development called PCP (Pocono Country Place). Deserving or not, this development has gained a very bad reputation for crime and gang activity which drove down prices. The influx of NY commuters has also brought with it increasing gang activity to the Poconos. I lived in the neighboring town, sharing a school district for 19 years and left a few years back. I buy my investment properties in the next county down.

Btw, we did look around Conway also, but with all the flooding right after the historic rains they had and the traffic on 501 we decided against it.

Hi Terry,

We just built a 3/2/2 1450sf that closed about 10 days ago. Our PM put it up for $1,600. I know there's been interest so I'll have to update you when it gets rented and for how much. It's behind 707 so in a quieter area outside of flood and W&H zone 1 that is still pretty close to beach. You have to factor in higher investment/out of state property taxes and the wind and hail insurance. This is going to be our future retirement home so that wasn't the only factor for us.

Hi Michael,

My husband and I live and in invest in NE Pennsylvania. We are closing on a new construction in Myrtle Beach in August. Hopefully it will be our retirement home but for now it will be a rental. Although it will not make as much as our PA houses, my calculations show it will still cash flow positively. The taxes will be higher as an investor but not by too much. They still come in much cheaper than Pennsylvania. For us the major factor was the insurance. There is a big difference in wind and hail insurance between Hurricane Zone 1 and Zone 2. Make sure you do your research on this and get real quotes so you don't end up with a bad surprise.

Good luck!

We are closing on a new construction sfh a few miles back from the beach this summer. We will be doing long term rental on it with property management. This is my experience. The rent to value ratio (0.8% +/-) is not great in the area but we will still make money on the property. Make sure you not only understand that your taxes will be higher (but still very low compared to many places) but insurance is a big consideration. There is a big difference between being in Zone 1 or Zone 2 in the wind and hail zones so make sure you get quotes in the area you are looking so you can factor that in. We are only investing in the area because we are "pre" buying our retirement house and want to lock in price and interest rates and let someone else pay for it until we're ready. Otherwise we would be looking in a more profitable area. Our other homes are in NE Pennsylvania and make much better returns. I have no experience in vacation rentals.