Williamsport Property Management

Property Management in Williamsport, PA

Williamsport was our first market. We opened here in September 2012 and we never left. Everything One Focus knows about managing rentals in central Pennsylvania, we learned on these streets first. It is the largest city we serve, with the most housing, the most shopping, the most schools, and the most jobs in our whole footprint. Fourteen years in, it is still the market we know better than any other.

Williamsport is also our headquarters. We own 414 West Fourth Street, a landmark building right at the beginning of Millionaires Row. That is where we run our operations across all five counties.

Williamsport has a rental ordinance that requires the city to inspect every rental property on a four-year cycle and issue a rental license once the property passes. The inspectors are city staff from the Bureau of Codes, not some outside company, and they are looking at health and safety. The paperwork side of it is the city’s regulated rental unit license application. The city is split into wards that come up on a rotating schedule, so your inspection year depends on where your property sits. If you have never been through one, it is not the end of the world. We track the cycle, get the property ready, meet the inspector, and handle whatever lands on the correction list.

The housing stock here is old, mostly over 80 years old, and that is the real story of managing in Williamsport. Old City and the historic district hold some of the oldest homes in the region, a lot of its beautiful Victorian construction from when this was a lumber boom town. That architecture is a big part of why people love living here. It is also why the historic district comes with rules about what you can change on the outside of a building, which we get into below. Newer construction and single-family homes tend to show up in Montoursville, Muncy and Hughesville.

There is real, steady demand behind the rental market here. UPMC anchors the local health system with its Williamsport campus right in the city, and Geisinger has facilities in and around town, so we have two large employers pulling in people who need housing.

Pennsylvania College of Technology creates consistent but smaller off campus demand than people assume. Enrollment fluctuates, and the school works hard to make sure its own housing fills first. Lycoming College keeps its students on campus with very few exceptions and barely moves the rental market at all. If you are buying here on the assumption that student demand will carry the property, check that assumption carefully.

Williamsport also has a calendar that brings the outside world in. Every August the whole world shows up for two weeks for the Little League Baseball World Series. In November, Preservation Williamsport runs Victorian Christmas, where people tour the historic homes and remember why they wanted to live in one.

What rent looks like in Williamsport

These are the ranges we actually see on Class A and Class B properties in Williamsport. Rents will vary based on features, location and utilities.

• 1 bedroom, 1 bath apartment: $600 to $775
• 2 bedroom, 1 bath apartment: $700 to $900
• 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath single family house: $1,200 to $1,500

What about flood risk in Williamsport?

Fair question, and one more owners should ask before they buy. Williamsport sits along the river and is protected by a levee, and most of the properties we manage here are not in the 100 year or 500 year flood zones. That said, “most” is not “yours.” Never take anyone’s word for it, including ours. Check the FEMA flood maps for the exact address before you buy, and talk to your insurance agent about what that flood zone means for your coverage and your costs.

Ready to stop chasing your own rental? Contact us to schedule your discovery call.

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