All Forum Posts by: Ryan Chatman

@Tony Gorokhovsky do you have units in PCP? Or other Tobyhanna neighborhoods?

@Gagandeep Singh I own a property in Tobyhanna in the heart of the Poconos. I'm planning to STR in it soon. Two of my neighbors are already actively doing airbnb with some success.

What's your budget? What are your goals?

I'll try to connect you with some of my contacts in thr area.

@Tony Bui I'll echo the other replies by saying definitely do BOTH! We purchased a duplex property this past December and live in one- and we will soon rent out the other. It also came with a garage that already had a great tenant as a bonus income. That way you can have the tenant paying tour mortgage and then allow you to save and get the next property. Then once you move out of the Multi family. You'll profit even more

@John Alosio I have properties in Tobyhanna and another in Northampton. I could make use of that lumber if you still have it around! Would love to network with you. I was looking at a few properties in Bangor as well, but we decided on Northampton because it made more sense in our situation. 

@James Gibbons - I own a property (5 bed 2 ba) in the Pocono Country Place community. 2 houses on my street are dedicated airbnbs. I haven't done STR on my property, but plan on it later in the year. From living there the past 3 years and literally seeing the occupancy, i'd say 150-200 days a year the property is occupied. This is a non-lakefront area in our neighborhood; we are about a 5-7 min walk from the small lake and these non-lakefronts are charging about $250-300 per night (not including cleaning/tax/fees). The Lakefront homes in my part of the neighborhood seem to be able to command around 400-700 per night and seem to be occupied even more. We are 20 minutes from Camelback, Kalahari, and 25 from the crossings outlets.

I've seen the previous threads and posts about the Poconos and I think it gets a bad rap for sure because a lot of investors have lost and it's not a sought-after area as it once was in the 80s/90s. Since 2017 I have seen an increase in people visiting from NYC and NJ as it appears they want a getaway from the city. 

I'm sure there are some decent deals and if you can make your lakefront property shine, it shouldn't have a problem being occupied 50%. I would just look at your numbers and research the heck out of other specifically lakefront properties, familiarize yourself with fees/taxes/regulations/hoa stuff of the specific community you are buying in. They all vary widely. Because the poconos is a huge region, it's frequently lumped together and overall people will tell you to stay away.

The issue is overpaying for the deals in this area, especially since everyone is hiking up prices right now. It will kill your potential profits. Do not overpay just because it is lakefront.

James PM me with specifics of your deal and maybe I can offer some additional insight

@Amanda Mark

It will help to specify where you're investing. but here are some general tips that apply anywhere:

As @Dan Maciejewski mentioned, if you're not seeing much in your search it can be a sign that most of the duplexes in the area are bought up and also demand is high (it's high in most places currently). If you want to understand the rental market in the area, call/search around with different apartment complexes (you will quickly find out going rates, and type of quality in the area, and also if there's limited availability = meaning high demand). Once you have a *conservative* baseline of rents for different size apartments, you can use that data in calculating your deals when considering which duplex to buy.

Are the duplexes you've seen vacant, currently rented? Are you house hacking or buying strictly investment? In buying my first investment property, I had success with uncovering rent amounts by simply talking to existing tenants (if it's currently rented, politely knock and ask questions, you'll be surprised on what they share). I talked to the tenants because many sellers didn't readily list what the current rents were. You can also get some solid insight as to why the seller is selling, or how the area is rental-wise. If the units are vacant, I see more flexibility because you have many options... 1. Renovate and typically getting more money 2.Doing a simple turnover (cleanup/paint/carpet cleaning/etc) and pricing rents right at the current market rate.

Overall, it will be most important to consider the specific deals you're looking at with regards to purchase price of the duplex  + costs to get the units rent-ready (do you have to just clean them up vs. doing major renovations). Then accounting for your mortgage (if you are getting a loan) & turnover costs, versus the possible rents you can collect for the area. There are investors that are successful in EVERY area, you just have to make the deal make sense financially.

Maybe you can share specifics of the area you're looking at here or PM me and I'd be glad to help.

@Phillip Rosin Was interested if there was any updates to this project? I am interested in how it went after seeing all of the suggestions and discourse here.

@Chris Berry I agree with @Rachel H. that you should form the LLC in the state you will be doing business (Sounds like it's North Carolina). If I were choosing strictly between NY & FL, I would definitely choose Florida- NY has more taxes & restrictions. Lastly, NC is likely more favorable than both FL & NY from a tax & fees perspective.

Here is the info on filing LLCs/Corporations in NC:

https://www.sosnc.gov/Guides/l...

At the bottom of the above link you will find the forms & fees. You can even create an account with their website and file your registration online i believe here:

https://www.sosnc.gov/Guides/a...

Hi Weiler,

In my opinion, I say do it on your own. I've started several LLCs and I do it myself. You can rent these books from your local library and they are very helpful:

Form Your Own Limited Liability Company
https://store.nolo.com/product...

Your Limited Liability Company
https://store.nolo.com/product...

Also, here is the info on doing it in the state of Alabama:

https://www.sos.alabama.gov/bu...

Typically if the structure of your LLC is relatively simple (only 1-3 members) and no special agreements, it should be pretty straight forward to get it going. You can always go back at a later time and amend your articles of incorporation after consulting with a lawyer. Let me know if there are some specific questions in regards to starting one.