HOUSINGNEWS REPORT
RUST BELT RENTAL TOUR
RENTAL MARKET PROFILE: PITTSBURGH (ALLEGHENY COUNTY) • Median Home Price: $141,000 (Up 10 percent) • Average Fair Market Rent for 3-Bedroom: $1,192 (up 8 percent) • Potential gross annual rental yield: 10.1 percent (down 2 percent)
Sources: ATTOM Data Solutions, HUD
as having good fix-and-flip potential due to the very trendy neighborhoods where they are located. His estimates the average home in his market is 1,200 square feet with three bedrooms and two baths and an attached garage in a decent suburb with a decent school. The median price is around $139,000. Although he prefers to buy for $100,000 and put another $100,000 into the rehab in an upscale area, he has also bought properties in lower- tier neighborhoods. “I just sold one to someone in Southern California for $15,000 that rents for $800 a month. It’s in a C or D class neighborhood, but we’re in such a target rich environment it doesn’t matter,” he said. “You don’t invest here for appreciation. It’s a safe place. I can’t remember the last time I spoke with someone here who was upside down on a mortgage.”
“I just sold one to someone in Southern California for $15,000 that rents for $800 a month. It’s in a C or D class neighborhood, but we’re in such a target rich environment it doesn’t matter. You don’t invest here for appreciation. It’s a safe place. I can’t remember the last time I spoke with someone here who was upside down on a mortgage.”
JOSH CALDWELL PRESIDENT, THE PITTSBURGH REIA
“I have an option to buy from the owner and then rent it to somebody else. I have enough room for cash flow in the middle,” she explained. “I have passive income from my houses. When I need more money I can always wholesale.” Josh Caldwell, president of the Pittsburgh REIA, believes the market is at “a weird intersection of low prices and high rents, which equates to good cash flow.”
Schimmel works totally off market to find properties, many of which are 100 years old or older. While a few of her rentals are in the lower-tier neighborhoods renting around $600 a month, most of her properties are in the higher tier where the rents are running $800 to $1,000 a month. Given the shortage in inventory, Schimmel utilizes an investment strategy she refers to as “sandwich lease options” quite a bit.
Even though some of the houses are over 100 years old, Caldwell sees them
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NOV 2018 | ATTOM DATA SOLUTIONS
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