10 units, whats the next step?

Question

I am 25 years old and Currently own 4 single family houses and 3 Duplex’s, one of which I bought a property torn down a house and built a new duplex. All the properties are located in 2 smaller towns in Ohio, Tipp City and Troy. I am ALWAYS searching for more properties but haven’t had any luck for over a year. I manage all my properties myself including doing all repairs and such. That makes it hard for me to expand to further areas. Should I be ￼ patient and wait out this sellers market or should I.....?

Zeke Liston · Answer

In Columbus we have several Facebook groups as well as meetups, that's how I get connected with wholesalers @Ben Mosier!

Zeke Liston · Answer

@Ben Mosier, I would suggest getting connected with some wholesalers so you can see some off-market properties as well!

Evan Polaski · Answer

@Ben Mosier do you ever see the hand-written signs that say "handyman special..." with a phone number?  90% of the time those are wholesalers.  Call the number and talk to them, get on their list.  At least in Cincinnati, a lot of the wholesalers are pretty dry right now.

Another option is to simply start sending out direct mailers.  Your hits on these will be low, but the cost is also fairly low, and if it gets you one or two off market deals, you will be ahead.

How I am reading your post, it sounds like you want to expand beyond just Tipp City/Troy. Am I reading this correctly?

Kris Wong · Answer

Just a little food for thought for you for the future - tangential to your original question. Managing your own properties is a great way to save money and build experience, in the beginning. However, as you scale, you will want to start delegating these "low value" tasks to other people. That could mean hiring a professional property manager, who hopefully already has the systems and people in place to manage better than you could. Your time will be better spent building your business, acquiring new properties, raising capital, etc... I have never managed any of my properties, because I don't have the time or the inclination.

Ben Mosier · Answer

@Zeke Liston what’s the best way to get in contact with wholesalers?

Ben Mosier · Answer

@Zeke Liston I search everyday I know. On market, for sale by owner, Sheriff sales. Online. Have any ideas to find property’s?

Evan Polaski · Answer

@Phil Denton, unfortunately I do not remember who I ultimately ended up with.  I started with Penklor, and they did a great job.  Unfortunately, they got acquired by Sundance, who also did a good job, but after a few months got out of the single family rental management.  From there, I got transferred to a local realtor, who also did a pretty good job.  THEN, she decided she didn't want to do other people's properties anymore, and I ended up with basically a handyman, whose name I cannot remember.  That lasted about 3 months, before I had enough and took over management.

I will PM you a friend of mine, who does a great job and looking to grow his management business.

Slocomb Reed · Answer

@Ben Mosier I lived in Piqua for a while growing up, seriously miss Winans. I have dreams about those dark chocolate meltaways...

I get where you're coming from. I'm in Cincinnati where deals are not as scarce, but I'm at a point as well where my investing business is experiencing a lot of growing pains.

Have you considered using a PM software that will automate more of the things you're currently doing yourself for management? It can be a real time saver without costing too much money. I have a couple I recommend if you need recos.

You may also want to branch into other towns in that area. Like Piqua!

Phil Denton · Answer

@Evan Polaski Would you mind sending me a DM/PM about the companies you tried and didn't like?   I'm just starting out here in Cincy but I work full-time so I'm looking for a good property management company.

Evan Polaski · Answer

@Ben Mosier I completely understand.  When my first child was born, I had 7 units, was running another business and my world just got flipped upside down with a child.  I picked a management company, that I thought did a great job, but they got acquired by a larger management company, who then decided SFH management wasn't worth it, so passed it to another person, to another person to another person.

It cost me a lot of money, and was probably more headache then just managing my own properties, so finally I took them back.

That being said, I trust there are some great management companies out there, I just didn't end up with them.  My belief is you can find better management companies when you scale to larger projects.