Agents in Youngtown, OH zip code 44507 and 44502

[Christopher Nerio]

Hi, I am trying to analyze an opportunity that I may have with an investor in Youngstown, specifically the zip codes I mentioned in the subject. It seems as though properties can be bought very cheap and with about $20-30K can be renovated into a good looking home. According to realtor.com the median homes in the area are worth around $71K. Rents, I was told, are max $600/mo. and the area is low income. The numbers seem to meet the 2% rule and if it costs me $35-40K to buy and renovate a house and it's worth $71K, that seems good to me too. I have seen that the vacancy rate is high too. Anyway, if there is anyone that is familiar with these areas in Youngstown and could shed some light on the city it would be greatly appreciated. Do my numbers make sense? How bad or good is Youngstown for investors? Is there any appreciation? Is the city improving or declining? Do the areas I've mentioned have any investor activity? Thanks.

[Joe Cantanzriti]

Christopher Nerio

I lived in Youngstown all of my life until a very recent move to Chicago so hopefully this helps a little bit for you. I was an agent for the last 5 years as well and do have a couple investment properties close to those areas but mine are 44512 zips, which the big difference there is the school district. Youngstown city schools are tough and there is a very drastic line of property values between the zip codes due to this right on the line of where your 44502 and 44507 areas are. The 70k values in those areas is probably a bit on the high side, though there are some select streets that could maybe get close to that number, it would be very dependent on the street. The vast majority of properties there however are selling to investors in the 10-20k range with varying rehab costs to get rent ready so if the 30-40k purchase costs are rent ready or very close to then it could be a good rental property though it's likely only worth around 30-40k for most properties. Most rentals seem to be section 8 there and yes it is a high vacancy area. Youngstown as a whole is a declining market but it's pretty much been in a very slow decline since the steel mills closed in the 70s, not much has changed for better or worse since then though as far as real estate is concerned. Feel free to ask me any other questions, certainly could try to assist.