All Forum Posts by: Troy Sheets

 Lol, I should have hired a videographer, I'm terrible at it! It was literally a last minute decision to make the video as I was prepping for tenants to move in that morning and I needed to wrap up and get out of there. 

Here's a link to a brief video walk through of a new construction quadplex I just completed. I bought two vacant 2-story shells that were falling down, demolished them and consolidated the two lots into one parcel, which allowed 4 units by right. I then spent a small fortune on architecture, engineering and permitting, got a construction loan, and built this 3-story beauty. I GC'ed it myself, this is probably my 50th project I've GC'ed for myself. This project is part of a small syndication I put together of mostly friends and family and in total is 4 buildings/19 units. This particular project, if the appraisal comes in as expected, should fully cash out with a 75% LTV loan and while it won't meet the "1% rule", it will meet the .85% rule, which I just invented. Philadelphia has a 10 year tax abatement on new construction so for the next 10 years we'll only pay taxes on the land! Hard costs for the build came in right around $147/ft., which isn't bad for a corner property as they're generally more expensive due to more siding and windows, at least compared to an infill/mid-row rowhome here in our fair city.

 Sure, message me any time. 

I just finished a BRRRR on the 1600 block of S. 26th that appraised for $285k, two story, 1100 sq ft, no finished basement. Insane. Anyway, point is, the area doesn't really matter as much as the numbers for each specific deal. You can lose money in the best of areas and make money in the worst of areas. If they're both the same price and both need the same amount of work then you should take the higher ARV one, it's a no brainer, but I doubt they're both the same size, need the same amount of work, etc. You have to run comps and make a decision based on the numbers.

Originally posted by @Max Busca:

Hi everyone, --

My name is Max and novice investor in the Philadelphia region (suburbs included). I've realized that when I am with friends I tend to talk about real estate related topics so often that I need to find more like-minded people (to ensure I keep all of my friends haha). 

To keep it short, I am looking to purchase a property in the next 4-6 months. I will be using the house-hacking strategy. I have decided to use an FHA (maybe 203k) loan and look for a 5+bed/3+bath property that can use some cosmetic repairs. My budget is about $375k. I am currently focused building out team and learning more from other BP members.

Outside of investing in real estate I'm a big sports enthusiast, travel junkie, & lover of pizza. Before you connect to talk sports w/ me you should know that I am a Philadelphia sports fan... so, you've been warned. 

Looking forward to interacting with y'all in this community. Let's connect. 

- Max Busca  

PS. I have already bought an out of state property in Memphis Tennessee via Turnkey. I am thinking about using a 1031 exchange for this next purchase. Would like to tighten up my portfolio (closer to me personally... just for starting) and not in love with my first investment property choice.

Hey Max, I'm in Philadelphia and have done a MFH house hack, SFH and MFH rehabs, SFH and MFH new construction, and some mixed use stuff as well. Additionally I'm a GC and build all of my own projects and my wife is a realtor and property manager. Always happy to connect with local investors.

Probably 20% increase in hard costs. Painful but in the areas I buy in they've got plenty of room to grow in both rents and ARV, which even with Covid delays and increased costs, I still landed better than initial projections. I was running my rent comps at around $1550/unit and got $1800 and $1900 per unit. Projected ARV was $500k and we're at least at $550k, perhaps with the right appraiser on the right day we could get closer to $600k ARV. Still waiting on the appraisal for refi on this one.

Thank you! As far as sharing numbers, I mainly work with out-of-state passive investor partners on most of my deals and unfortunately I’m not sure they’d be comfortable if I shared much more. I can say I try and purchase my lots at around $30k/unit but depending on the area I can sometimes get them for less, or if it's a corner lot, I may go as high as $40k-$45k/unit. Higher projected rents let you pay more for lots, corners get you slightly better units, more light, more lot coverage so I can pay a bit more for them, however they also cost more to build due to more windows, more siding, more sq footage to build due to more lot coverage, etc. You have to weigh all those factors and many more to figure out what you can pay. There are lots in some areas that even if you got them for free you'd lose money as the rents would never cover your development and construction costs.

 Thanks Alex! I try and stay in my lane but believe it or not I've done scarier projects than this as the owner and GC that were rehabs. I've tried to focus on my niche more and more and not deviate but this one was just too good a deal to pass up. It was long and painful and I should have just done it myself, but it all worked out. Here are a few more progress pics of this job. It was a doozy to be sure. 

 Thank you sir, appreciate that! 

Thank you sir! Let me know if you want to grab coffee one day if you’re local