Where are the Columbus OH investors at?

Question

Hey Buckeyes!

I'm new to town, sort of.  My name is Ki and I'm from Southern California. I've visited Columbus several times since about this time last year, but last month my partner and I planted a flag here by closing on two portfolios, a 36 unit and 24 unit apartments.  We love Columbus, and are excited about our journey here.  We met a lot of great people and built a fantastic team.  We'd love to meet even more new friends.  We would love to network, share ideas/contacts/ and find other ways to add value to each other. We fly into Columbus several times a year, and would love to go to an OSU game and/or have a beer in Short North.  I would love to connect with any investors/brokers/lenders/legal counsels/accounting experts/contractors/handymen and more!

Shawn Jorgensen · Answer

@Allen Tracy

I’m considering investing in Columbus as the Chicago market seems to be trending downward. I was wondering if you would kindly share your experience investing there.

Allen Tracy · Answer

It's a very competitive market but there are plenty of properties both on market and off market.  There's everything from turnkey down to full gut rehabs.  Plenty of single and multi family places.  If you want the 1% rule you'll need to be in the C neighborhoods.  There are properties for sale in all types of neighborhoods from A down to D so make sure you have a good agent and property manager to let you know which one the property is in.  There are investors from everywhere there so you'll have to be ready to bid against large investing companies that are local as well as many out of state investors. I've been seeing most properties going to asking price or even slightly higher so make sure when you're running your numbers you see how much higher you're willing to go over asking price.

Remington Lyman · Answer

I am trying to take more clients to games this year. I love going to them, regularly get free tickets from my athletic connections

Allen Tracy · Answer

That's awesome, congrats on those big deals!  I'm also in SoCal and am closing on my second duplex in the last two months in Columbus.  I'd love to eventually get into a bigger property like the ones you picked up.  The market in Columbus is a bit aggressive but there's tons of great properties/opportunities.  I can't wait to actually visit some day.

I have a great agent and property management company that I've been really happy with.  Toughest part from what I've heard from other investors is finding good contractors.  My management company has their own that they use and will manage jobs for a 10% fee which isn't bad especially for smaller jobs since I'm remote.  For bigger jobs that could be a lot of money but bigger jobs may need more babysitting and checking on quality so maybe it's worth it.

Allen Tracy · Answer

Account Closed I'm also always looking for great contractors/handymen.  Seems like they are hard to come by in Columbus.

Account Closed · Answer

I have a hyperlocal approach, I live in and invest only in north linden. Keeping myself to one area means i can  study the market closely, know the different types of housing/layouts that are common, where the crime/junkie nexuses are, and most of the guys i hire are all in NL also. Also being out in the community and being known as an honest easygoing guy who pays cash means i can get offmarket deals directly at times. I talk to all the neighbors of my rentals and help them out when I can, its a friendly diverse area with high demand so it makes it fun... I also know each block down to almost individual houses so makes deal analysis fast as well.

All that said,  i know bupkis about Franklinton etc. If i have to get on a freeway its too far! Haha

I also dont have any good experiences with GCs here. I function as my own GC and handyman, have good trades guys ive found within the community, really is a trust builder when the guy paying and the guy working know where eachother live!

Account Closed · Answer

Apologies but I snooped, I found what I think is your duplex on 21st in South Linden via our auditor website. I live in and invest just north, in North Linden, and am familiar with that little pocket south of that school in South Linden.  It will be really interesting to hear what issues that property gets, as that has historically been a really challenging C-/D area.

I agree this market is cutthroat, I am always looking at REO and lately people have been stealing the keys out of lockboxes and jamming the locks, and the auctions get bid up closer and closer to ARV.  The wholesalers are relentless too.. I can't even imagine what its like from a broker standpoint who sees more internal workings of this market.

Account Closed · Answer

I'm a local and never worked in a different market, I'm curious how Columbus is considered aggressive vs other markets?

Zeke Liston · Answer

You can take me to a game @Remington Lyman

Remington Lyman · Answer

I would recommend investing in Columbus, Ohio. I started house hacking and now I am purchasing properties on commercial notes. I plan to scale bigger and bigger and one day get into syndication of larger deals.

Where are the Columbus OH investors at?

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