Cleveland Heights, OH?

[Carol Fenimore]

I'm interested in investing in Cleveland Heights, OH.  Specifically duplexes, triplexes, etc.  Does anyone have recent experience with investing in this area?  I'm a bit worried about the higher unemployment rate in Cleveland.

[Robert Matelski]

Originally posted by @Chad McLeod:

This can probably be chalked up to "don't believe everything you read online," but a few different websites seem to say that 44118 has a lot less crime than 44106.  What's interesting is that 44118 seems to be the area that's right up against East Cleveland, whereas 44106 is further south.  The southwest corner of 44106 looks especially bad.  But again, this is nothing more than what I'm seeing online.  I'm curious to hear what the local experts think.  And don't say it's a block-by-block basis!  Kidding. :)

Zip codes are seldom homogeneous enough to say "zip code X gets a grade of ___", "look in zip code Y" or "avoid zip code Z" (with occasional exceptions, like 44145 in Westlake, where it's about as homogeneous as can be). I've found that a deep dive into the neighborhood or suburb, usually down to the census tract level, will give you the best indication of the caliber of the specific area. Within both 44118 and 44106 there are census tracts that trend lower income/lower education/lower owner-occ rates, and then census tracts that are almost off the charts the other way (solidly into A territory). Dig deeply into it, and don't just assume that everything in a given zip is good or bad. In addition to looking at the census data for the tract, literally look at the block and the surrounding area using google maps (including street view) -- you can gauge a lot by how the houses and yards are maintained, what kinds of vehicles are most commonly seen in the street/driveways, etc.

For example, within Cleveland Heights, there are some streets off of Mayfield (e.g. Eddington) that are in 44118 that are nearly all multi-family rentals, with fairly low median household incomes, and but in that same zip code there are postcard-worthy mansions on streets like Fairmount. Additionally, portions of 44118 extend into South Euclid, University Heights, and Shaker Heights.

44106, on the other hand, straddles the Cleveland and Cleveland Heights border, and has everything ranging from opulent houses (on streets like Harcourt, in Cleveland Heights) where surgeons and law-firm-partners live, to areas where there are dumpy and cheap houses (on streets like Ansel, in Cleveland) and you'll be lucky to find/retain even a decent section 8 tenant.

I've created a grading map that takes a variety of factors into account to grade each census tract in Cuyahoga County... if anyone wants it, they can send me a private message and I would be happy to share.