All Neighbors in Wilkes Barre, PA
Top Neighbors: The magic behind the mirrors
You will never have to pay to be listed as a top neighbor. Period. That important detail clarified, let's discuss how we arrive at two "top neighbors" for a given region:
Localism is a bustling collection of hyper-local communities, and the top neighbors should reflect those members who are most active. When ranking users in a given region, several factors are considered. To get your foot in the proverbial door, you need to have posted at least one "Localism" article or photo for the region.
The very best way to quickly rise to #1 is to post high-quality local content. Keeping a steady strem of incoming posts and photos will massively tilt the scales in your favor.
What doesn't count toward the top neighbor ranking? ActiveRain points and community sponsorships. The top neighbor spots will always go to the most active members in a region. We want to create a level playing field that encourages the growth of communities — talent and dedication are required to win the day.
It's not enough just to buy a cheap house, fix it up and rent it. There are certainly a ton of cheap listings in today's market. Just like the rest of the market, your rent rate will be determined by the location your property is in. Is it near the schools, shopping, bus routes, churches and hospitals? Those are all very important factors to consider when purchasing a property to rent. I have had plenty of outstanding properties that were in tough locations for renters, which made it even harder to rent. The longer your house sits on the rental market, the more money you lose.
Yes, I said amenities. What does your property offer that the other houses in it's market don't? The Wilkes-Barre market has seen a huge influx of investment buyers over the last two years. They all have the same plan...buy a cheap 3BR/1BA house, rehab it as cheaply as you can and put it on the market at the high end of the rent tier. That was a great plan and it worked...for a while. It wasn't long before there were 100's of the same type of houses on the rental market, all at the same time, all offering the same amenities and all at the same prices. This made it a tenant's market and they could literally choose from 4-5 houses to rent. The one that stood out the best (or offered the most amenities) was the one they chose.
Consider this carefully before ever even making the purchase. If you can't get the right rent rate, you could be stuck with an alligator. You know what that is, right? It's a property that keeps eating your profits month in and month out. If you're not careful, it could even take a bite out of you!! If your house sits for more than two months, you need to review your plan and make sure you have the property priced right. A lesson I learned over time was to be sure that the rent rate is right before I take over a property. It costs me to have that place sitting there, unrented, while I run back and forth to show it as well.
10%!!! Are you kidding me? That's the response I get sometimes when I tell someone what my fees are for my services. I've also heard the statement that I am making more money off of some of my clients properties than they are. That may very well be true, but it certainly isn't my fault. There are some rather simple formulas for figuring out what your income vs. costs will be for your property. Property Management is one of those costs you will want to consider. I have a good friend, who is also now a client, that considered my fees to be too much until she was forced into court by a tenant. After spending a lot of time and money, she now understands why it's better to have a property manager.
Yes, that's right!!! Scranton, PA is rated by CNN's Money Magazine as 7th in the list of "Fastest Growing Real Estate Markets". I'd say that's pretty impressive. It's also something I've been saying for a long time now. 
This is a great time for the wise investor to take advantage of some of the great deals that are available out in the Wilkes-Barre, PA real estate market. Our area is teeming with older homes that are coming on the market in droves at incredibly low prices. For investment groups like Real Estate Riches and others, it's like throwing chum into the shark infested waters. As soon as one of these morsels is thrown into the water, the investors are churning in their offers hoping to be the fortunate bidder to come away with the prize. No, this market isn't one for the meek. It'll take quick, decisive action to survive in these blood-filled waters. 
I've seen the whole gambit of investment strategies with these investors. There are the low-ballers, who throw a lot of paper at a lot of sellers, hoping to catch the right one at the right time to close the deal. These guys aren't the most successful with their strategy, but they're busy and I guess that makes them feel like they are accomplishing something. They'll be on an infomercial soon, talking about how they bought their last property for pennies on the dollar. If they don't run out of energy (and Realtors who want to spend a lot of time writing offers for them) and they can take the continual rejection, they'll find some level of success.
There are the patient ones who, like a trap-door spider hang out and wait for the right property to come along. Then, like a lightning bolt, they flash out with their fullpricecloseinthreeweekswithcashandforgettheinspectionsplease offer and move on to closing and a rehab. This is very likely the Realtors favorite kind of investor. They don't come around often and they sure won't pay the bills, but they're a sure shot and we love to get that call. 
And we can't forget the slow and steady, patient investor who will make sure those numbers are dead on before making their offer. They have the whole transaction calculated to the dime before the offer is put in. These are the ones I really hope get the nod, but it's a battle these days. The good thing is that these investors don't get emotionally involved with the property. It is just business after all. The offer wasn't accepted? No problem, let's move on. They are the ones who will be retiring when they plan to, with their investments paying the bills. 
This week, I found great pleasure in the following story that was first page on one of the local papers, the Citizen's Voice, 
Stories like this one, on the front pages of our local media, make what I've been saying for so long that much more credible. It's amazing the power the media has over the minds of people these days. I continue to be amazed by it. Just earlier this week, while I was dropping my vehicle off to be inspected and discussing the fact that I'm a Realtor with the owner of the garage, he commented to me that it must be rough to be a Realtor in today's market. When I told him that we were alive and well, he seemed surprised because of the stories he's heard in the national media. After this story came out, I've heard numerous comments about how strong our real estate market is and can see the pride that people have in their faces and voices over their area being better than the rest of the nation at something. 
The thing that stands out for me more than anything else is the fact that I have been saying this same thing for months. Before I looked up the facts that backed up my statements, I knew this was true. Before I countered the arguments of others about how bad our market was, I knew it was true. How did I know it was true? Because I am a local real estate professional. I am a Realtor. I help people buy and sell real estate for a living. I am out in our market day in and day out. I have my finger on the pulse of our market and, months before the media confirmed what I have said, I was blogging about the health of the Wilkes-Barre real estate market. 
