From Canada to Cleveland

[Eric Martin]

Hey Biggerpockets community,

I'm an investor from Toronto, Ontario where SFRs are $1m, the landlord tenant board is a nightmare and cap rates are doing the limbo. I bought my first rental in London, ON in October 2019, and recently sold in August 2024. I'm looking for a market where I can park the proceeds from my previous property and create some cashflow. Cleveland, Ohio seems to be the place to be in terms of cap rates and distance from home. I have about 250k USD to allocate to this venture, but I may want to dip my toes into the market with a single-family residence in an area like Parma Heights and test the waters. My first property was chaotic with tenant troubles, so Ohio being a landlord-friendly state and Parma Heights being A-class location, I'm eager to get involved and experience the difference. As a cross-border investor, I'm likely going to need advice on entity structure to protect my liability while also not being double-taxed, I'm going to need to network with experienced investors/property managers/agents in the Cleveland area. Would love to hear the community's thoughts and meet some Clevelanders! 

[Todd Anderson]

@Eric Martin

Welcome to BP,  this is a great place to learn and get information.

I would echo @Matthew Becker comments.   If you're planning on investing out of your area and will not be managing the property, why don't you look at better markets.  

The investors that I work with from around the country and world look for markets that show strong growth in population and jobs.  When they invest in to these growing markets they find they are able to get in the way of obvious appreciation.  This is the best way to create real wealth.  You need to invest for cash flow but,  if there is no appreciation how can your investment proform.

There are a number of great markets around the country that have been in the top 10 in growth for years.   Once you find this type of market then finding the deal is the next step.  The investors that I work with in your position prefer to look more to turn key to find these deals.  For most the place that most investors are finding these types of deals right now is New Construction.  

With new construction in a growing market investors can find incentives that solve for many of the problems in today's market.  Mainly interest rates and cash flow. If an investor can get a low interest rate and free property management properties will cash flow.  

Connect with me if you have more questions.

Best of luck.