Possible deals in Columbus, OH

[Matt Smith]

Hi all. I posted a thread several months ago about selling my house in Alabama and moving to Ohio for a two year assignment. I got alot of good advice at that time about what to do with the equity from my home sale, etc.. Well, now we're in Ohio and everything is going fine. I am renting a house and have banked the equity (~$65k) from my house sale in Alabama. My original plan was to just put that money in a mutual fund and let it make a little money until we're ready to go back to Alabama where I would use it for the down payment on a lake house. 

A colleague at work has discussed some of his rental properties and another one has come up that he doesn't want to use any more of his 401k to fund so he told me about it. It's very similar to his other 2 properties that he's making money on but I can't seem to make the numbers work on it. If I could work it out, I would think about investing my equity in a rental property instead of having it sit in the bank and this would, hopefully, get my REI career started.

So, what I'd like to get advice on is whether I should bite the bullet now and try to find a different (good) property in Columbus and get started with my equity money or not. I can't think of another time when I'll have this money available. But, if I do this, I'll be using the money that I need to use as a down payment when I go back to Alabama. I know that I can use a much smaller down payment on my primary residence when I go back (5% I think) so that might be helpful. 

Are there any investors in the Columbus area that could give me advice on the rental market here? Maybe outside of Dublin where the houses and the property taxes are very expensive? There are several things that I am stuck on:

• Should I go for a smaller, cheaper house in a less than stellar neighborhood or go with a nicer house in a good neighborhood that's also in a very good school district? 
• Do you always have to put 20-25% down on a rental home mortgage? 
• What about property management? I think I can do the property management now until I go back to Alabama but what about after that? I have big concerns about living in Alabama and having a rental house in Ohio but I know the market is good here so it's attractive.
• When I move back, are there any additional expenses for being an out of state investor (taxes, insurance, etc...)?

I'm really ready to do this but I haven't been able to pull the trigger yet. It's like I just need someone to tell me that I can do it and tell me where to start but I know it's not that easy. 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

Thanks

[Sean Dawson]

@Sarah Wheeler, yes,  investing can be a bumpy ride.  But I wonder why you sent me a message a month ago asking "

Hi Sean!

I saw that I had a profile view from you. Can I answer any questions for you about Columbus investing or property management?

Please let me know.

Thank you!"

When I was already a client ( at that time) of your PM company.  You did not even know that we were current clients!  Like I said something had changed at Panzera and we've gone our separate way

@Trent Ecklar rates are low, but prices are higher to compensate.  As a side note, when I purchased my first duplex I had horrible credit.  Paid 12% interest, and that was in 2000!  Crazy thinking about it now.  But even then I made it work.  Ate a lot of Ramen, but made it work.

• @Matt Smith, cheaper houses in less stellar spots sometimes require more hands on work.  We self manage some of our properties in the OSU and Bexley area.  Those place are mostly grad students (at least the spots we are in) and are not too much of a bother.  

I'd stay away from the Westside personally. True, prices are great there, but unless you really want to be hands and do it yourself, it would not, in my opinion, be worth it to have a PM manage a couple of SFH there.

• yes, we've put that much down for rentals.  Except of course when we lived in a place then it wasn't as much.  
• well,you've seen my review of our previous PM.  With your time here I think you should be able to make some connections with handymen, contractors etc.. and use them when you move back.  With all the software out there tenants can log on and pay, send work requests, etc.  Showing the property would be the problem, but even then, agents can do that for a fee.
• Dont know about any additional expenses.  Talk to @Jason Bott about the insurance side.  Good guy

Good luck