General Columbus, OH SFR Questions

[Zac Gryb]

I am new to the Columbus market and am interested in expanding my portfolio. I am trying to get a better sense the market nuances compared to others I have purchased in. The following are my questions about this market. Any help is appreciated and I hope these questions can help others!

1. How prevalent are septic tanks?

2. How common are HOA's with lease restrictions?

3. How far out from Columbus is reasonable for property managers to manage/rent? What is the reasonable commute for residents of Columbus?

4. How common is it for sellers to not provide disclosures?

5. How common are leasebacks?

6. What offer to list ratio are properties currently trading at?

7. How common are HOAs (w/ fees) in general?

8. Are there specific areas that tend to have a common issue with the property? (ie cast iron pipes)

9. Are there multiple MLS's commonly used?

10. What is the common due diligence period?

11. Any other market specific geographies, property characteristics, or negotiation nuances to be aware of?

[Marc Rice]

Originally posted by @Zac Gryb:

I am new to the Columbus market and am interested in expanding my portfolio. I am trying to get a better sense the market nuances compared to others I have purchased in. The following are my questions about this market. Any help is appreciated and I hope these questions can help others!

1. How prevalent are septic tanks?

2. How common are HOA's with lease restrictions?

3. How far out from Columbus is reasonable for property managers to manage/rent? What is the reasonable commute for residents of Columbus?

4. How common is it for sellers to not provide disclosures?

5. How common are leasebacks?

6. What offer to list ratio are properties currently trading at?

7. How common are HOAs (w/ fees) in general?

8. Are there specific areas that tend to have a common issue with the property? (ie cast iron pipes)

9. Are there multiple MLS's commonly used?

10. What is the common due diligence period?

11. Any other market specific geographies, property characteristics, or negotiation nuances to be aware of?

1. How prevalent are septic tanks?

- Not common at all, until you get outside of the 270 outer belt.

2. How common are HOA's with lease restrictions?

- Most common in nicer A class areas, many of which limit leases to 1 year minimums. Even those are not that common

3. How far out from Columbus is reasonable for property managers to manage/rent? What is the reasonable commute for residents of Columbus?

- You'll find most managers will manage in and around the 270 outerbelt, some will service Delaware and Lancaster...more so Delaware than Lancaster. You can find local PMs in Lancaster, Delaware, Marion, Newark, etc

4. How common is it for sellers to not provide disclosures?

- They're supposed to if its on the MLS. You can terminate if you never receive an RPD which many people forget.

5. How common are leasebacks?

- Uncommon

6. What offer to list ratio are properties currently trading at?

- At or slightly above ask, most range from 5-15k over ask on good properties. Some will go below ask if they're bad or overpriced. It depends.

7. How common are HOAs (w/ fees) in general?

- Not common, but more common in the newer suburbs of Dublin, Powell, etc where they're building entire neighborhood developments with 100s of cookie cutters.

8. Are there specific areas that tend to have a common issue with the property? (ie cast iron pipes)

- Homes built before 1950 will most likely have knob and tube or some basement settlement issues. Homes before 1978 probably have lead based somewhere if you dig deep enough

9. Are there multiple MLS's commonly used?

- One MLS for Columbus. Theres also off market deals your agent may/should have.

10. What is the common due diligence period?

- 7 days

11. Any other market specific geographies, property characteristics, or negotiation nuances to be aware of?

- Each neighborhood is different in Columbus, you should make sure to build a team around you of people who know the local market and its movements.