Just Purchased 2 Properties in the Cleveland Area for Rental

[Michael McCarthy]

Hello Everyone. My name is Mike and like many others here I am relatively new to the site and to REI, but I have been taking advantage of all that is available here to learn from including blogs, podcasts and the forums as well as book recommendations. I have learned a lot over a short period and I am thrilled to have a place where I can network with others, learn, contribute and not feel like I am being scammed viewed as a potential buyer of some kind of product or service.

As my post says, I am now officially a real estate investor after purchasing my first 2 properties in the Cleveland area.  Prior to purchasing these properties, I struggled with the question of buying locally or remotely.  But after doing a lot of research on investment opportunities in other parts of the country, I decided that the positives far outweighed the negatives. On the positive end, house prices are far less expensive in most areas, the availability of homes below market value is excellent and the ability to both use rental income to pay down the loan on the property and make monthly income at the same time is there. The negatives are not being able to be there to inspect the property myself before buying and having to use a management company to manage the property. I have been able to help mitigate the negatives by finding people that I trust in that area that are also investors and have the same goals.

So, long story short...I now own 1 SFR in Cleveland Heights that has a family already renting the house. That property generates a monthly income even after payments on the loan and property management. I am also about to close on a 2nd property in Parma, Ohio just outside of Cleveland. This one is is in a better area, was farther below market value, was in better condition and has a higher monthly rental value. So, I guess you could say that I'm jumping in with both feet based on the opportunities that I've found and the rest I'll learn as I go. For me, the upside of starting now and taking advantage of the upsides that other markets have to offer make more sense than working on a higher risk deal with less margin in this area. That said, I am still open to the right opportunity in my local area as well.

I'm very interested to hear about your personal experiences or advice for being an out-of-town investor.  My goals are to avoid any common pitfalls with not being local to my properties as well as to maximize my financial opportunities with this strategy.

Thank you all in advance for reading and responding to my post.  I am very thankful to this site and all of it's contributors for a place that I can get honest, candid, experienced advice that is not biased towards a sales pitch of any kind.  I look forward to sharing my experiences and advice as I grow as an investor myself.

-Mike