New Rental Property in Dayton, Ohio

[Connor Duff]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $180,000
Cash invested: $50,000

It's a freshly updated 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom ranch home. Fresh paint throughout, beautiful original wood floors, updated kitchen with large extra pantry space and newer appliances, recently updated bathrooms. Murphy bed with storage in additional bedroom (mattress not provided)! Large unfinished basement with ample storage space and partially fenced in backyard!

If you or anyone you know is looking for a place to rent in the Dayton area, call my property manager at (937) 305-1838

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

At my current stage in real estate investing, single-family residents make the most sense. I wanted to start small, learn a lot about single-family, and then scale into bigger multi-family properties. I invested in this area because I have a strong family connection to Dayton. I wanted to invest in the mid-west because of the prospect of better cash flow and I've always wanted to own property in the place that my family is from.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

I connected with a real estate agent in Dayton and they set me up on the local MLS. I had been looking for weeks and knew what I was looking for. The property had been on the market for about 20 days with not a lot of interest so I started under asking price. They countered and then I countered again. We settled on my counter offer and I had contingencies in place in case I needed to walk away for some reason.

How did you finance this deal?

I obtained a conventional loan with Bank of America for 25% down and a 3.5% interest rate.

How did you add value to the deal?

There was quite a bit of deferred maintenance on the property when I took ownership. We did some necessary plumbing, HVAC and electrical work to begin. To add value to the property, we repainted all the rooms, ceilings and trim. Also we added updated hardware to the kitchen and living rooms.

What was the outcome?

We closed on the property and we are currently looking for tenants!

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I had some challenges early on with finding the right property manager and getting contractors to finish their repairs/upgrades on-time. Next time, I'll do a lot more research up front on vetting managers and set up some kind of incentive structure for contractors to complete their work early or on-time. Also I learned that the mid-west seems to move a little slower than other regions around the country, and it was challenging getting work done and finding a tenant in the winter season.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Yes! I would recommend these individuals to anyone interested in buying real estate in the Dayton, Ohio area:

Property Manager - Jess Bogenschultz at Berkshire Hathaway
Lender - Alex Romero at Bank of America