All Forum Posts by: Timothy Lon

Well, that's worse than the federal warning at the beginning of an old VHS.  Good to know.

I will have to continue looking, 1 year vs. 2 years is a big difference.

I'm currently on month 4 of a one year lease at my apartment complex (was the only real option to sell the house, living at the resident while on the market was not an option for a number of reasons.)

I'll make sure to stash away $10-$20k and not touch in case this type of property does go on the market in 6-8 months.

There are a few...but they are in areas that aren't bad enough for me to be against purchasing and having a PM company manage for me, but not nice enough to be willing to live in the neighborhood myself.

Thanks for the great info.

@Michael Noto, I did manage to drive by 4 properties recently (a lot of 12 hour shifts and afternoons/midnights are making it difficult).

Two properties didn't help their case...two properties (based on the outside appearance with the inside pictures on the listing) solidified their potential, to me at least.

Go figure: the two properties that helped their cause are already off the market.  One had sat for around 140-180 days, and the other had been listed for around 270-290 days if I remember correctly.

@Logan Allec well said.  It seems that other investors have the same mentality due to a few of the properties recently getting picked off the market.

@Logan Allec

Those are some good points.

I have looked into the FHA route, due to the 3.5% down.

I'm lucky enough to not be overly limited by finances, regardless of being in my mid-20's.  So, I'm still looking at conventional loans as well.  Basically, simply trying to find the best deal.

What's frustrating, although I could take it as a good sign, is while I've been waiting for my house sale to close the last month, 4 of the 10 or so properties I was going to target and potentially offer have already been bought off the market. These includes some of the ones that were getting into that 4-6 month + on the MLS range.

Frustrating because they were seemed like good opportunities, but nice to know my analytics and assumptions were probably right (they were profitable).

Good points from everyone, especially @Roy N., thank you.

I sometimes see the phrase "A/B/C/D area" on here to describe if the area something more pristine/upper class, middle-class typical, or a subpar neighborhood.

I've done research into these areas, and while not horrible "D" areas of the Greater Pittsburgh Area, some of these areas would probably be described as C, or maybe C-.

I'm hoping that the main issue with these properties are they are in subpar but not horrible neighborhood.

As most have said here, the best option is to get some feet on the ground and go see.  For all I know, the street/area that makes the area subpar overall might be right down the road, or it might be a nice street IF you don't notice the two drug dens across the road.

Thank you guys.

Hello All,

Brand new member, second post ever.  I am currently researching prospective MFHs for my first rental property with the intent to buy soon (my houses closes the 22nd, which is going to be used to help with the 25% down).

I have a question for the more experienced investors on this site, so basically, everyone.

I tend to find a prospective property, research the areas and statistics, and if it seems potentially profitable I run more detailed analytics (including the calculator on here).

The problem is this:

The best properties with the best cash flow, profit margin, ROIs, etc...all seem to be properties that have been sitting 200+ days on the market, sometimes much more.

My first train of thought is if it was really this good, someone would have bought it up months ago, right?

Besides the obvious (my numbers are off, i.e. estimated rent value) is it possible, or more important, even probable properties that have been sitting on the MLS for 6+ months or 1+ years are actually good, positive cash flowing investments?

Do any of the veterans on here immediately rule out a property based solely on it exceeding a certain time frame on the market?

And of course, if it is possible...why haven't these MLS lifer-type properties been snatched up yet?

Thanks for the future reply guys.

-Tim

New to the site and currently searching for my first rental property.

Due to the demands of my work (60+ hour weeks, rotating shift work, etc) I do not have time to be a landlord.

I have been factoring in the 8-12% management fee with the calculator on this site, but the problem is the actual management company.

Does anyone in the Greater Pittsburgh area currently use/have used and recommend (or not) a local property management company?