CLE out of state investor - buy and HOLD < property management

[Henry Wang]

PLEASE REFRAIN FROM POSTING ON THIS THREAD IF YOU ARE NOT AN OUT OF STATE INVESTOR (this includes property managers, real estate investors and local flippers)

Hi all,

Starting an out of state investor thread here to see how everyone is doing on the HOLD part. I've talked to a number of out of state investors and the common theme is that there aren't that many good property managers in CLE and that they were cashflow negative with them.

Questions:

• How many properties and how long have you had them?
• How are you maintaining your property (ies)?
• Are you cashflow positive? (rent income covers expenses, mortgage, and more)

My experiences:

• How many properties and how long have you had them? 2 properties, 1 year
• How are you maintaining your property (ies)? Property management
• Are you cashflow positive? (rent income covers expenses, mortgage, and more) No.

If you're not comfortable sharing this info on the forum, feel free to DM me and we can chat. 

Cheers,

Henry

[Dave DeMarco]

@Lisa Rogers DO NOT go into East Cleveland. There is a reason there are so many properties for so cheap and nobody is buying them. I know the numbers look great on paper but the city is still not "ready for primetime" IMO.  The list of issues in EC are long and classic. The city has been in perpetual fiscal emergency since almost its inception. There are so few police officers that a busy Cleveland Police Dept has to cover them. The city can't afford any additional police and you will be lucky to have the trash picked up regularly. For the most part people live there because they have too.  

An old job had me in the city regularly working with the population directly. I was on the ground and in the homes. I cannot tell you the amount of issues I saw on so many different levels in that city. When/If it does turn around it will be a great place to invest if you get in early but now isn't that time.

If you ignore this advise you better be a local, have a SUPERSTAR PM (that will even work in the city) and make sure your numbers work in the $450 - $550 pr/mo range. Make sure there is A LOT of cushion in your rehab numbers and have reserves, reserves, reserves. Understand that your play is at the very top of the speculative scale and that you are at high risk of losing your investment.

You've been warned and good luck!