Cleveland: West side worth it? low inventory/high cost inventory

[Daniel R.]

As newbie as newbie gets...  After listening to an abundance of podcasts and lurking the boards, I am asking the ultimate beginners question:  For the Cleveland investors, what are the odds of holding a "2 percent" or even strong "1 percent" rental portfolio on the west side of town in desired neighborhoods?  A couple obvious pointers I've come across so far:  invest where you would like to be located; look for the good schools; while not a driving force behind the buy & holds, at least CONSIDER potential for appreciation.  After all, who wants their $100,000 house to be worth $65,000 in 5 years?  I'd prefer it be worth at least the initial $100,000 valued at on purchase.   

Looking at the desired west side suburbs (Lakewood, Westlake, BV, North Olmsted, etc)- how frequent does opportunity present itself in a foreclosure/REO or unicorn type deal make it worth going all in on a rental? It appears that inventory is definitely limited, so I was curious in asking how many wholesale, auctions, etc are actually viable in the desired parts of town? Or is the market pushing towards more affordable neighborhoods with higher risks to invest in? How about the "college towns" in the area- kent/akron/university, etc?

Thanks!

[James Wise]

@Daniel R. Your not going to find anything selling in a nice suburban area that hits a rental rate of 2% of the sales price. Those days are long long gone. That was a fluke during the crash.

1% or a bit above is doable in Lakewood multi families. Not likely in North Olmsted or Bay Village.