How does Toledo look?

Question

Hello all,

New investor here and I am looking at the Toledo area. Everything here seems like it would be a great investment. Is this area picking up? Why are there properties that are being rented for $750 a month being sold if there is that kind of return?

I am basically just curious who else is in the area and what you are going through. I have multiple properties I can outright purchase but this just seems too good to be true. What trends are those of you in the area noticing?

Thanks for your feedback,

Josh

Andrew Fidler · Answer

@Joshua Meeks - I've owned a sizable Toledo portfolio since 2009 and my property management company operates over 500 units currently.

The $750 rent rate is absolutely a fact for the 43612 and 43613 zip code 3-bedroom houses, this is a very stable area and I buy there any chance I get.

Your lower end neighborhoods - central city (43607), North (43608), South (43609) and East side (43605) are all a crap shoot for the advanced investor and certain death for newbies buying from the many wholesalers who frequent this site and Craigslist / Facebook. That said I own dozens in these areas and assure you that when you carefully buy the best houses in the best sections of the neighborhood you can do quite well.

As has been said on numerous Toledo-centric posts over the years, select your team more carefully than you do your investments...ultimately those relationships will bail you out of many bad decisions.

Darius Ogloza · Answer

I just returned (last night) from a two-week family visit (my wife grew up on the East Side and we have been together since 1983 so I know the city pretty well).  General observations follow:

The growth in Henville (downtown) has been a welcome development as downtown had been given up for lost back in the 80's/early 90's.  Nice to see the variety of restaurants/crowds in holiday season.

My  wife's cousins (both work in construction trades) report that the labor shortage is pretty dire.  In their words, you can't find anyone willing to work.  It seems that the cost of living is so low and the general population has grown accustomed to having low expectations such that survival on government benefits suits many otherwise able-bodied residents.

The Westgate area and Franklin Park remain the most vibrant areas in the city.  Folks with kids generally shoot to live in the zip codes covered by the Washington School District (as TPD is pretty bad).  Many seem to be moving to southeast Michigan on account of lower taxes.  Buy and hold investors will probably do best looking in those areas.

My wife and I looked at an 11,000 square foot Tudor castle on the river in Perrysburg asking $1.2 million.  Third most expensive house on the MLS.  My guess it will sell between $900K and $1 million.  In another time in our lives, we would have bought.  Perrysburg (city) is a truly beautiful area (much like Pittsford outside of Rochester with a river instead of a canal).

City rents  look to be about $300 to $350 per bedroom.  Good suburbs look like they command about $450/bedroom.  Just anecdotal - no detailed study behind these numbers.  Rents have not seen much growth since we lived in the area in the mid to late 1980's.

Overall, kissed the ground when we landed at SFO last night, despite the unseasonably cold weather and the rain.

Phil Hartten · Answer

In Toledo -Maumee -Perrysburg areas there are plenty of distress properties and distress owners for sure. I prefer to work with the listening agent. I did about 36 buy rent fix and sell over the past years and most were reo s and va fha reos too  they were so easy to do.

Skip junkers needing lots of rehab as there are so many good properties around. I found four within ten miles of home.

I had back problems so now I can only find deals and run the numbers and hand over to others as ny fix days are definitely over.

I live in Florida ow most of the time but would like to communicate with others in Toledo as I think it is much better to jv and work with agreeable realtor as they spot great deals every day.

Cheryl Mack · Answer

Darrell,

Are you working with a real estate agent, or just looking on Zillow? How close to Toledo Hospital do you want to be?

In my experience, it goes in waves. Lots of properties for sale in an area, then they get sold and nothing much is available for a time.  Watch for late season and post-holidays deals.

Good Luck!

Darrell Wyatt · Answer

I’m in the hunt looking for my first property around the Toledo hospital area and it seems very difficult to find anything.

Stone Jin · Answer

my view is that there is a segment of the market that is very underserved.  I think the suburbs are a much more forgiving investment than the inner city.  Take a look at Zillow or Trulia and see for yourself.  We've bought 3 SFH in Sylvania this year and am looking to purchase several more.

Christopher B. · Answer

I'm local to the area.  Glad to chat sometime if you would like;

Joshua Meeks · Answer

Understand

Michael P. · Answer

Pay for a professional inspection on the property .. enjoy the reading

Greg Scott · Answer

Population trends

1980

354,635

−7.6%

1990

332,943

−6.1%

2000

313,619

−5.8%

2010

287,208

−8.4%

Est. 2018

274,975

[30]

−4.3%

How does Toledo look?

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