Recommendations: Cleveland MFU Areas/Realtors

[Ahmad Kakar]

Hi Everyone,

I'm in out-of-state investor looking for my first property in the greater Cleveland area (Euclid, Lake County, Parma). At this stage, I'm looking for recommendations if there are other areas I should be looking at?

Also looking for a realtor reference, that would be greatly appreciated!

[P.J. Bremner]

@Ahmad Kakar  It really depends on the strategy you are looking to deploy.  When I first started buying MFH in the Cleveland area, I only looked at B class areas and up.  As an out-of-state investor myself, my primary concern was getting an asset that would be steady/stable and had decent cash flow.  The numbers for Cleveland are very attractive on paper, but without the team or experience in place, I felt like my odds of losing my investment were much higher and decided to look at suburbs of Cleveland where cash flow is a bit less, but far safer.  Here are the areas that I personal look at on a daily basis:

Lakewood, Shaker Heights, Cleveland Heights, Parma, Berea, South Euclid.

I look in the other areas as well, but I'm MUCH more cautious.  When I see a property profile and the school districts are shown as 1 out of 10 for K-12, I slow down and look for reasons not to buy.  As the saying goes, "It's better to miss out on a good deal than close on a bad one".

I hope this helps!  As for the realtor reference, I'll be more than happy to share who I use.  I've had to fire 3 agents in the span of a year since I started investing out there and I must say, having a bad agent upfront can cost you tens of thousands of dollars, even at $100k price point.  I've bought 3 MFH so far and in contract for my 4th and finally found an awesome pair of agents that work together.  Make sure you get good references and be aware of any bias (people who personally benefit from you using their reference specifically).