All Forum Posts by: Sheryl Sitman

There is a lot you need to learn in order to make this strategy work and a lot of ways you can potentially stumble. With the limited resources you have, you want the first investment to not only be a learning experience but to succeed. Keep in mind that experienced investors have had bad experiences with some of their investments and no one bats 100%. So rather than overemphasizing WHICH market to chose, emphasize finding the right mentor/coach/team because it is possible to fail in a good investment market when you do not know what you are doing and to succeed in a more challenging market when you do know what you are doing.  Try to find experienced, straightshooters willing to do some coaching in the markets you like. 

@Evan Kline I had to make my way through 4 PMs in Philly to get to one that truly serves my needs and bottom line. I have written a few posts about how to select a PM based on my experience in Philly and multiple markets. There is a delicate balance between looking out for you as the owner and creating a profitable management company -- knowledge/expertise, transparency and flexibility seems to be the key components to making it work.  Feel free to reach out.

@Ilir Livadhi I think you are referring to property wholessalers telling you how much the rehab will be - and as you see, their numbers are often not based on reality. They are based on selling to inexperienced buyers.  Most realtors are not experts in investing and do not themselves invest. But I would think they all can easily run the comps so you know the numbers you are aiming for in any given neighborhood/block/property.  If you need some connections, I run the most active group of small landlords in the city and have a network of connections that you could potentially leverage. DM me if you need anything.

I don't know the Baltimore market but have a friend who is a very savvy investor there and maybe he would do some coaching to help you understand which way is up.

Take a bit of that money and invest in learning - go to meetups and the many events that take place related to investing in the city - some for free and some paid. Consider getting some genuine coaching to jump the learning curve. Drive around the neighborhoods to understand the lay of the land - if you have someone who will take you around and explain, better yet.  And working for a contractor that does flips or rentals would be ideal.

Hey @Evan Grant so as a savvy experienced investor you already know that the  investor course stuff is not going to advance you and you know everything they have to teach already.. . Not to mention that the way many try to package their systems as some one size fits all to turn everyone into millionaires. I run a large group of Philly landlords and have a nice network of reliable service providers, contractors and reliable solutions that landlords need. I cooperate with a fantastic local investor who does coaching on a small scale. No guru BS :-) reach out if you want to chat.

As folks are telling you it is hard to say since it all depends on what you need to do. Definitely no way to do a full gut rehab or close to that for $50k today. Things like a new roof can range - here in Philadelphia where i do a lot of work, our flat rubber rowhome roofs are fairly inexpensive and standard . . . But structural issues can kill you. You will also likely be paying more than more experienced investors as you build your team and knowledge. Learn as much as you an about how to scope a property and estimate the investment. $50k sounds like a lot to you but with the price of materials and of qualified labor, it does not go too far. Contractors are paying their experienced workers $250/day these days in our parts.  Good luck!

Welcome Jules! There are many resources for you to connect online and in person. I've been investing since 2009 and in Philly since 2016. Feel free to reach out

Flipping is a really tough business. I've been in the Philly market since 2016 and I do not flip. I think good flippers talk about something like 80-20 -- they do well on 80% of their projects. Pointing it out because experienced folks have fails. In a city like Philly, you will face many challenges - you need to learn the market and know the neighborhood and the block and make sure all of your numbers are within reason, you need very reliable contractors, you need a to understand the permit process, you need to be familiar with market expectations.  I am guessing you like the numbers you see in Strawberry Mansion and Norristown (Montco not Philly) but do you know for a fact that at those numbers, you can do a full gut rehab and be at a number that will allow you to profit, and along the way make some sizable mistakes especially if this is your first project . . .  there are ways to get guidance, especially if you are local. Work with someone who can guide you or just accept that your tuition will be paid through making some costly mistakes which is also legit if you can afford that :-) Good luck!

Interesting - I have been investing in Philly for 8 years, run a  group of 2500 small landlords, speak at lots of events, know and network with many of the players  . . . but never heard of him before. Not that that means anything good or bad :-) But if you want high quality genuine coaching about investing in Philly and at a reasonable rate, I can  connect you with a wonderfully savvy, professional investor who does coaching. He is not my husband, brother or cousin - just a colleague I know who can coach people towards making good investments in Philly. You need to work with someone who can help you according to your specific circumstances and resources. And who will keep you from falling into any bad situations which happens often to newbies in the city