All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@Joshua G. Also you can look at Roxboro and Manayunk in the North West. Both are very desirable areas to live right now Manayunk more so than Roxboro. I think you will find many more multi-family units in these areas than say Chestnut Hill. I live in the area and check for multi families often there are a few in Manayunk, and slightly more in Roxboro. But if you really want a multi family I'd go for Germantown honestly. There are many more multi-family residences and the Western part isn't too bad and La Salle is in the area. Also, many of them need some work so you might be able to get them for discount. Many of the multi-families in the Northeast are very expensive by comparison.  

I've been investigating several peer to peer lenders lately and I'm a little weary of them.  Some are banned in certain states and I have other concerns. Has anyone used or does anyone know someone who used Lending club, Prosper, or any other peer to peer lending group to fiance a deal? And it seems like their interest rates are a bit high compared to traditional loans in my area. And what kind of deals do people think they would be good for? They seem to have looser terms and less restrictions and have high minimums like $100,000 for Realty Mogul which is one of these peer to peer sites solely for real estate deals. 

I'm no expert on all of Philly neighborhoods but the area you are referencing is not a good area. North of Temple is often called the "Badlands" so I highly doubt that an AirBnB listings there would command $551 a night considering rents there are like $400.00 a month.

@Daniel Ryu He attends a local Catholic School. I'm not 100% but I don't think they can attend public schools in the US. I know other people who host all their students go to other local Catholic schools.

This is the first I've ever heard of depreciation recapture. I just read an article about it and to be honest it went over my head a bit. Does it mean I write off get write off some of my capital gains from year to year then once I sell I pay a 25% rate on the amount I've claimed as a depreciation over the year when I sell the asset? Also I thought you didn't pay capital gains on any profit from the sale of your primary residence if you have lived there for 2 years or more. 

Well they had me fill out a document with their CPA showing my monthly expenses and they told me to make sure the list would equal the amount of my reimbursement. So technically on paper I'm not making a profit. This they explained to me would ensure I wouldn't be liable to pay taxes on the reimbursement. There was companies around me who offered more money per month but they didn't offer as many services or support like a translators on call or the CPA's help. 

Recently I bought my first house and I had a spare bedroom. So I debated on renting the room out since I live close to a local college. I though it would be easy to rent out a small bedroom to one of the students. But I released that I properly wouldn't get that much in rent. So I decided against it knowing I value my privacy more than small amount of rent I would get. But while on craigslist one day I found adds for hosting foreign high school students. Now if you live in a large city like I do there are agencies that are looking for places that can host foreign students. Some don't pay but the ones that do pay often pay well. The one I went with pays double what I thought I could rent the room out for. They even pay so well it was over the amount I pay monthly for my mortgage. So this has been helping me put some equity into my primary residence and free more of my income to invest in real estate. Most of the agencies I looked at that pay only required you to prepare and pay for their food which is three meals on weekends and two on weekdays. The best part of this is the payments are reimbursements so they are tax free. The food that I buy for my foreign student only came to about $100 a month leaving me a healthy profit. Also you can get a tax credit for an extra $50 dollars a month to reimburse you for the expenses of hosting. The company I worked with was desperate for host parents. You can take as many students as you want as long as you have the spare bedroom for them. Another catch is you have to live with them this is so the students can be immersed in English so they can better learn it. Now most of these students are from the major Asian countries like South Korea and China. My student is Chinese. It is a good way to pay part or all of your mortgage and the students tend to keep to themselves. It's a win win. You will get above average rent for any spare bedrooms, the money is tax free, and it's a good bit of life experience sharing your home and culture with someone from another country. This is the organization I went with http://www.nextglobal.org/ and here is another one that operates all over the United States http://www.usivy.net/. 

Yeah, I get what you are saying about doing it myself for a bit and learning the ropes. But it just seems like a lot to do while working full time and renovating my own personal home. But I guess if I buy a property in a nice enough area I won't get as bad of tenants. i was thinking of trying to get properties near Lasalle and other Universities in the area while I was going to West Chester University it seemed like rentals near colleges have an easier time getting filled. 

Micheal Badin I have used Navyfed for all my banking needs. They are an awesome bank from what I've experienced. I have no experience with them commercially but I got my mortgage for my personal home though them and the process was very easy. Their loan manager at Horsham is a older women with a vaguely British accent she was awesome. and there rates are pretty good for lending and you can get VA home loans done completely onsite which is a plus. But like other Credit Unions you need to know a member or know someone in your family etc who has served in any branch of the military.

Good luck in Clifton Heights Joe I grew up in Secane which is right next to that boro. And I'll check out that book. Real Estate seems very dependent on the location so a book written by someone in this area is a big plus. And I've been doing research on management companies often times they don't up front listed their services, fees, etc they just have some vague or flowery mission statements on the site. That's why the one I listed above appealed to me they listed the whole process online or in videos. But I guess I'll have to meet with a few in person to feel them out and get the vital details.