All Forum Posts by: Scott Gordon

This is a huge help!!! Thank you so much, I’ve been trying to figure out how to do this for months lol 

Hi All - I found a house while driving around that appears to be abandoned but the house itself looks to be in good shape and it's in a good neighborhood. How can I find the owner of the house? I looked at my county website/tax assessors (Westmoreland County) website but can't find anything whatsoever.

Thanks!

@Joe Villeneuve thanks for your feedback Joe! I see what you’re saying in point, numbers worked well for me up to $70k and anything under that was even better. It’s not a major cash flowing property, but It’ll cash flow ~$220+ even after setting aside money for the variable expenses.

I guess I meant turnkey meaning no major work needs done, it doesn’t NEED paint but every wall is white so a little bit of color wouldn’t hurt it. But I do see your point so thank you!

Also good point on the rent - rent in my area for similar properties range from $800-$950 so I thought maybe posting another listing at $900 to test the waters wouldn't be the worst thing. But very helpful to hear opinions from another REI!

@David Lee Hall, III thanks David! This is east of Pittsburgh about 15 mins from Greensburg/murrysville if you know those areas. Definitely agree with your comment about not mattering what the place is worth but more about me picking what number works for me. In my opinion, the numbers worked well for me up to $70k, so getting it at $68k and $12k off asking price felt like a win.

But, with that said, it’s my first one and I could be off! It’s not a major cash flowing property, but I don’t expect that until I find a property that needs some work to force some equity and save some money on the asking price.

I recently had my offer accepted for my first property and want to hear everyone’s thoughts! Good, bad or indifferent - always looking to make improvements so if something doesn’t look good please let me know so I can make the necessary adjustments on future offers. Thank you!

Asking price: $80k (my realtor said it was priced fairly for area)

Property is turnkey, doesn’t need anything but some paint and some fresh gravel for the driveway.

Rent is listed as $850 in my attached report but think I can go a bit higher - posted a fake ad before offering at $850 without pictures and had 7 people reach out in 3 days.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/analysis/rentals/e92aca0e-38c0-49fa-8c6c-05e65cb123af.pdf

@Charles Thompson I don’t have much to offer here, but always happy to see other investors near me! Sent you a connection request if you’re looking to connect with a local investor!

Thank you for the thorough response, Antonio! Responses inline above.

@Kuriakos Mellos Thanks for your response! I would say definitely an area that’s growing, they are building houses like crazy all around this township. I’ll be managing this one on my own - I typically run the numbers with 10% property management expense just to be safe but for this one I know I’ll manage myself so I left it out.

I also have access to $25k in the form of a HELOC at .99% for 6 months then 3.24% for the remainder of the 10 year term that I'll probably use for the $17k cash I need. I have that money in cash, but figure why not use basically free money in the form of equity. Thoughts?

Hi! I've been looking for my first rental property. I just want to get started so I can start getting hands on experience. However, I don't want to do anything dumb and get into a bad deal from the start. I wanted to get everyone's thoughts on the deal that I ran the numbers for in the report below. It doesn't cash flow a ton, but the CoC looks good and it doesn't need much work (which actually goes against my initial plans). Anything jump out at you as a big turn off?

https://www.biggerpockets.com/analysis/rentals/e92aca0e-38c0-49fa-8c6c-05e65cb123af.pdf

Thanks!

Scott

@Stephanie Hrico thanks for your response, Stephanie! I’m happy to see another RE investor nearby :) The tour was....an experience lol. The 15 year tenant vanished just before the tour according to the sellers agent. No idea if or when he’s coming back, but all of his stuff was still there. The upstairs needs a total overhaul, but the downstairs unit is in pretty good shape. The front porch is very concerning and would likely need to be replaced. A lot of the mortar is falling out of the bricks, but could obviously be fixed. The basement has two doors that are basically styrofoam so they would need replaced which is fine. We were asked by a neighbor of the property who appeared to be a mother of about 8 kids who were all running around if we had weed. All in all, any experience is a good experience and my wife who knows Greensburg better than I do was right that we need to stay away from that particular area of Greensburg and look in south Greensburg.

Good to know you went with an LLC before buying your first property - I've heard mixed thoughts on wait til you have several properties vs. doing one right away. I'm not going to make an offer on this one but actively seeking my first property!!!

Thanks,

Scott