Investing in real estate in the Cleveland area

I work with investors who mostly live out of state.  They own properties in all areas of the greater Cleveland area.  A trend I continue to see is investors who are unaware of the areas where they are purchasing properties.  This is NOT an attempt to tell you where you should or should not invest.  Rather, I'm advocating about educating yourselves as to the who, what, where, when, why, & how of buying that investment.

While I understand it's not always practical, I highly recommend visiting in person to see the properties (plural) you're interested in.  You are not just buying the property, you're buying the neighborhood.  Are you aware of the condition of the properties around the target property look like.  Property pictures are great but does it really show the full picture of the condition of the property?  Is the 4plex you just spent 300k on located in the worst part of the city next to a property obviously falling apart with drug activity and squatters on 1 side and an overgrown vacant lot next door.  Getting quality high paying tenants is likely not in your future.

Other factors to consider.  Are you aware of the crime rate in the area?  Again, not to say you can't buy in these areas, but know full well high crime rate areas will be more difficult to get rented in a reasonable amount of time.

Have you done your research...with zillow, realtor.com, the county website, do you know what similar properties in the area have sold for in the last 6 months?  Why are you paying a great amount in excess of current market values?...why?  Are you buying from a wholesaler who is gouging you on his sales price because you won't do any research about the true value of the property you are buying?

Have you run the numbers?  What are the rental rates in the area?  Does the market rent support your mortgage?  Or are you in such financial predicament that you HAVE to have higher than market rent just to support your mortgage?  If it's the latter, I'd HIGHLY recommend you reconsider your offer price to better reflect the market value because THAT makes it so very difficult to rent out...even in the better parts of town.

And let me be clear...property values in 1 part of town (Cleveland proper) does not equate to the same property values in another part of town (Cleveland proper).

If you won't see the property in person, why won't you get an inspection done?  Are you afraid you're offer won't be accepted?  I'd rather pay for an inspection than find out after title transfer all the issues that are wrong with the property.  And if the seller balks, I'd argue you might be in a better position walking away.

We offer property management services (including a la cart services), lead safe certification, pest control, and mechanical services.  We do NOT require you be under contract for property mgmt svcs to use our other services.  Call, text, or email us for more info about what we can do to assist you as you grow your portfolio.

 

D & K Property Management Services
Karen Bostwick

(440) 590-5925

KarenMBostwick@yahoo.com

https://dkpropertymgmtsvcs.blogspot.com/

Broker License 2018002999