Investing advice in Ohio

[Lesley Whitley]

I'm asking for input on good cities in Ohio for investing.  I love both single family homes as well as multi family.  But how do I start to consider what area to be looking in?  I have been looking at Akron and Toledo areas - but am I missing something obvious and are there other areas that might perform better?  Thank you in advance for sharing your knowledge with me.

[Mike Trzaska]

I invest in the Cleveland Area and am also a local. My choice was mostly because it is my backyard. I know the macro population trends, but  like most cities there are micro markets within the City of Cleveland that people are flocking to. My quick run down for you is that the west side of the city will continue to see growth and investment, the closer you are to the lake the better (Detroit Shoreway, Ohio City, Edgewater) . Outside the city of Cleveland, Lakewood is a suburb that has seen a ton of appreciation in the last 5 years. A lot of areas on the East Side of the city are pretty rough so make sure to do you due diligence when you see a property for $20k. Is that an area you really want to be in? East side suburbs are nice areas, but there you will see high taxes to make sure to take that into account in your underwriting.

I would address the declining population concern, by asking yourself the question of how long am I going to hold this property for? Not sure if you are a new investor or have a portfolio already, but if you are new and it will take you another two years to have the capital to invest in Columbus I would say look at an Ohio market with a lower cost of entry to get into the game.