Who doesn’t want to know where to buy in Philadelphia to make a fortune? It’s a great time to be investing in this city. Several house flippers doing rehabs in Brewerytown in late 2017 were expecting to sell for around $185,000 but during the six months they worked on their rehabs, they saw their resale values go up by $30,000 even $40,000!
You have the potential to make a great return on investment if you know where to buy in Philadelphia.
Before we get to the list, let’s address the elephant in the room: naysayers will say that some of these sources don’t work for them or use out-dated or incorrect information (Zillow is a common target of complaint). Here’s our opinion: there is no single infallible source for great deals. You need to look everywhere and consider all sources, taking all info with a grain of salt. For example, you wouldn’t take the word of a FSBO seller as any more authoritative than Zillow just because you don’t like Zillow, right? Data should be gathered from multiple sources and then run through a filter of due diligence and thoughtful consideration. When you look at a great painting, a single blog of paint may look weird but when you step back and take in the whole picture, you see a masterpiece. That’s the value of data… even data that some investors may say isn’t useful.
Websites about Philadelphia real estate
Investors trying to decide where to buy in Philadelphia can learn a lot from websites dedicated to local real estate. Have you checked out Curbed Philadelphia? Curbed is a large American real-estate blog network and the Philadelphia site is great at showcasing redeveloped homes, analyzing local news that affects real estate, and highlighting things unique to real estate investing in Philadelphia. Investors might want to read this Curbed article, for example, “Report: Philly ranks among top cities with largest rent increases.”
Philly.com also has a great section on residential real estate worth following closely. You’ll learn about our neighborhoods, decisions of city council affecting real estate, and real estate trends affecting Philadelphia. Like Curbed, they also showcase redeveloped homes. Investors flipping houses might appreciate this recent article, “How buyers use social media to narrow choices and save time house hunting.”
Online real estate investing forums
You may be able to find other real estate investing forums, but I love chatting with other investors on the BiggerPockets Real Estate Investing Forums. If someone poses a question about doing something like short-term vacation rentals in Philadelphia, you’ll see real investors with real experience in that subject happily giving advice and sharing information. So if you have questions about where to buy in Philadelphia, post them in a forum and you might be surprised at the investors willing to give you good advice.
Real estate investor networking groups
Real estate websites and real estate investing forums can help investors figure out where to buy in Philadelphia, but there’s nothing quite like talking to people face-to-face who made many investments in the city. You can read a great article online about the investment potential in Strawberry Mansion, but you’ll be better informed after hearing an investor tell you about their horror stories of flipping houses in that neighborhood. You can ask questions and find out more. You might also get leads on where to buy in Philadelphia right now—things are changing all the time. If your buy-and-hold strategy is to operate 10 rental properties, I’m sure you can see the benefit of talking to an investor who currently holds 20 rental properties around the city.
Summary
These are just three ways of getting information and insight into where to buy in Philadelphia, and while some investors say they’re far from perfect, we think they can provide a surprising amount of data that will add to your due diligence.