All Forum Posts by: Ugochukwu Opara

hey Buddy,

Not in the jersey area but I'm in Philly center city, give me a ring if you ever come up my way.

Cheers

See this is why I love BP, look how awesome and honest these responses from complete and RANDOM STRANGERS! No one tried to pitch you and pull you in any way to make some of the 100K theirs. I just love that. Good job @Chris Grenier , @Anthony Crawford and @Joseph King

But dude, I'm and Philly so let's talk. It really depends on what you want to do within "Real Estate"

Real Estate is so huge that you really need to take the time to LEARN and FIGURE OUT WHAT TYPE OF INVESTOR you are. Until you have those critical but simple foundations, DON't YOU DARE TOUCH THAT MONEY ... or tell others what's in that account. 

Philly has so many real estate related meet up groups, jump into some and ask questions.

Find a mentor, shadow an investor, find someone rehabbing and offer to help if they go over the numbers etc. 

Hey buddy,

I'm a realtor in Philadelphia. Here's th deal: zoning. Those properties may not be zoned as a multi family. Most likely the seller took the a single family home and they divided it into 2 or more places. Check the city property records and see what it says or just ask the seller directly ( I recommend the first option). 

There are two ways to have success with this.

1) convert back to a single family layout. Most houses like this have to sale at a discount because they are not zoned for what the are setup as. IE. Single family operating as a duplex.

2) Get it rezoned. This one requires some homework up front. Check the block to see if any thing is zoned as a multifamily. If so then this this could be a good sign that you rezoning request might get approved. Another option would be to buy it contingent on seller getting the right zoning. 

Just my two cents. Let me know if this helped or created more questions. 

Hi Again!

Good question!

Single families just have wider pool of buyers where as multies tend to go to the investor. 

Multies tent to only be bought based on the rent they can pull, so unless the rent goes up in that area, the value of that multi will stay exactly the same. Of course certain areas just don't go by this rule. 

Philly is very affordable with low property taxes and low home values compared to neighboring areas 

@Pierre Streat

My name is Ugo, Realtor and Investor on the grounds in Philadelphia and surrounding areas. 

I typically don't recommend out of state investing but NY to Phila is difference, very very different. I've seen many New Yorkers come down to our Sheriff sales and just go to town buying up everything since they've never seen property priced so low. 

Philadelphia is a great market and cash flow is there, especially if you don't mind making ugly things pretty. Taxes are super low so the cash flow is there. Rental market is strong and single families tend to hold their value or appreciate over 3-5 years (based on location of course). There are cons as well right, high crime rate, and an inconsistency in neighborhood class ( you'll have a B+ area two street from a C-). 

Best of luck with everything, let me know if there is anything I can do to help.

 Absolutely. I completely agree here. Having your license doesn't slow you down at all, I've always had my license so I'm bias but I can't imaging dragging an agent down to comp out 10-15  potential flips in the 50K-100K price range knowing he/she is only going to make $1000-$3000. I run comps so much it's ridiculous. I mastered my market just by seeing 2-4 properties every day when I first started and I still do so today. No agent would be willing to put up with me. 

But what does this mean income wise? I can offer a seller everything you can (wholesale, subject to, lease option, creative finance, funding, etc ... plus more (listing, mls, lease, short sale, forclosure, property management, developers, refi)! Plus I'm a reputable full time realtor licensed with the state to handle real estate transactions and I have my finger  on the pulse of my local housing market. I also care errors and emission insurance. How comfortable does a seller feel with me?

How do you compete with me? The answer is you don't, you just jv with me. 

These are just my thoughts, maybe I am missing something?

Hey @Johnny L.,

Great question. I'm in Philadelphia, and I'm a full time realtor. I've been a realtor for about  years and it's been anything but easy. However, the money is there. My company is different in that I get to keep 100$ of my commission, I just pay $65 monthly. So that helps and I did that for a reason.

So here's how it breaks down for me: I spend about $500/month in marketing and I do about 2 transactions a month ( 1 buy/sell side + a rental or 2 buy/sell sides or two rentals).

My average sale price is $180K, so at 3% that's $5,400. 

My average rent price is $1,200 and I keep %42 of that so thats $500 ish.

I'm at $5,900 - $500 (expenses) = $5,400. 

I sale about 12-15 houses a year so on the low side that's about $64K.

The only thing that sucks is if you want to buy a house, you have to forgo your normal deductibles come tax time so you show higher income ... that blows so hard and I can't find a work around ...

I'd be considered a crappy agent! There are agents out there that do what I do annually on a monthly! That is very motivational. So to answer your questions, there's actually a boatload of money in being an agent, it's just about mastering your systems and being disciplined. I am not there yet but by studying the business of other highly successful agents, I will get in about 2-4 more years. Plus there's nothing like helping someone buy their first place and getting that invite to the housewarming and just seeing what they've done with the place and knowing you made it all possible. #Winning. 

What I've done to move forward in my business is to hire a real estate coach and work on building proven systems and stop trying to reinvent the wheel. Wish me luck :-)

Hi @Pushpendu Chakraborty ,

Philadelphia is diverse. It really depends on what you can stomach.

I have clients that are making tons of money in C- neighborhoods with multi.

All depends on what your strategy is and what you're most comfortable with.

Let's talk. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Cheers

Hey buddy,

Real Estate Sales Agent in Philadelphia here.

@Kyle Hipp Hit it right on the money, it really depends on what the county says.

So for example, out in Philadelphia, for a 3+ unit NOO I have to have a fire suppression system installed.

However if I owner occupy this same unit ... the I don't need the fire suppression system installed. The joke is that Philly doesn't mind if there is a fire, as long as the owner burns up with the building!

@Nancy L. Bring up a really good option with the contingencies. I think that's a very fair way to mitigate things for you going in without see the actual guts, number wise, of the 10 unit. Have your agent butter up the other agent, works all the time.