All Forum Posts by: Angela Harding

Great Topic Hector, 

I've been in the real estate industry since 2000. I have seen government shut down, the crash of 2008, national speakers selling the next best shiny coin and so many other things that affected the real estate market and/or either aided or hurt real estate investors. 

I think the most important thing to always keep in mind is not to plan for getting rich quick in real estate. Most people that made huge amounts of money after 2008 were already investing and the right opportunities came up because they were ready. Always be ready for a down turn, but don't wait for one. 

My students and investors that have done the best in real estate always buy distressed homes, put money into the rehab and hold them for long term rentals. Others were lucky enough to buy when prices here were very low. Toledo is not the best short term rental area because it is not a tourist area. Therefore, long term rentals here do much better. 

I'm also a big fan of buying and rehabbing, providing good turn key homes for those who cannot pay cash for distressed homes. But we use this strategy to create more available funds for future purchases and to help build a good long term rental portfolio. Returns in Toledo use to be crazy. 25% to doubling your money was common. Now our returns on both rentals and rehabbing are closer to 12% to 20%. Of course you have a big winner here and there but that is the average if you are consistently buying. 

I love to hear about success in other areas so please share what has worked in the past and what is working now in other states. 

I wish you were here with us in Toledo! There are so many good investment classes that you can take through the national real estate association but you won't get CE credits from them. Gary Keller has a great investment book from years ago that was one of the best books I read. Very basic. Just remember. Investment property is all about the numbers. The real numbers, not the paper numbers. Find a good property manager and make a good relationship with them. I work with so many agents here and also teach at my local REI's and boards to find eager agents like yourself. I am happy to help teach exactly what I want agents to find for investors and then refer their clients to me for management. I value my agents from other companies and stay loyal to sending their clients back on their next purchase or giving them a referral fee if I have a property that their client buys. I learned everything I know by hands on experience with active investors also. showing up at local real estate meetings and finding the people who are actually doing real investing, not blowing smoke up your.... and saying they are investors. And not the people who are teaching because they can't do. Find the real investors and you will do well taking them to lunch and asking questions!

Good luck, it is a great industry. 

Angela 

Desiree, 

I am a management company in Toledo. Very familiar with the other cities around Ohio. Ohio is a great place to start but the management is very difficult here. Columbus has some good companies but their prices are very high for anything worth buying. You would want to use your money more for a down payment on a good property. Cincinnati has a great investor network with Venna Jones Cox running the local REI. I don't know the price of properties there but again, be careful with lower end purchases. In Toledo 50 grand will get you a fixer upper that will need probably 30 grand in work. If anyone tells you any different be careful. Most of Ohio is like that. Real estate agents are not investment professionals. Be sure you are speaking with a good management company and find out if you are looking at houses at that price if they are in areas that are low turn over and low theft. Feel free to give me a shout if you are interested in Toledo. We help a lot of people get started here.

Angela 

Andy, 

I strongly suggest you go through the licensing classes and then decide if you want to get a license. It is a great education, you learn so much that you will eventually apply and for me as a property manager, it is a bonus for me when looking for potential employees. 

My son started in Florida with no licensing as a leasing agent and moved up pretty quickly. But he did not earn enough education to actually manage properties himself. It was a sales job. Now he is my partner and working on his Broker license to take over when I retire. His best knowledge was working under me for years and getting his license. It also increased his income. Be sure to get involved with local real estate groups as you may find a smaller company looking for help. We really need good people in this business. 

Angela

Don't forget public records do not lie. If you have access to public records look up your management company and see how many evictions they file on a regular basis. If you don't have access to that as a free service there are services that you can pay a small amount or you can go down to the courthouse and get that information. It is very easy to get google ratings up. Look at tenant comments that include, they made me pay for something broke, or they notice me within a few days of non payment. If there is a rent escrow option for tenants, call the local governing agent and see how many tenants have put rent in escrow against the company. Always, always talk the broker who runs the company. I recommend choosing a firm where the broker participates. NO rent-a-brokers. No unlicensed companies. Lastly, ask for 3 or 4 references of clients they have been working with for more than 2 years. Do not rely on internet searches because it is too easy to get numbers up quickly. And call other companies. At least 3 and then go out and meet them. There are quite a few companies here in Toledo that have paid their way to get a lot of acknowledgement. I spend a lot of my time cleaning up poor performing properties from companies that call themselves experts. If they have not been licensed for at least 5 years as a broker I would not want to be their experiment. 

Angela 

Angela 

I too agree with William. 

If this is a good friend, tell him to find a reputable property management company and you can just be the eyes and hears on the property. Not having the proper experience and knowledge could cost you a friendship and is a huge liability risk for your friend. 

Angela 

We never use a master key. It creates huge liability issues. We have a key box at our office with a spare key in them. If we have multi unit apartments we put a key box in the unit so they are on site for emergencies. We do not label our keys with the property address. WE appoint each house a number and track it in our management software. You never want to put the house address on the keys because someone could loose it and if found by a stranger, well I don't even need to explain that. Another way that works is some companies put a lock box on each property at the charge of the owner and they keep a spare key inside on the property. In Toledo, we do not do that because people can take lockboxes and break them open. That is why we never use door hanger lockboxes for any property. 

Good luck!

Please remember the phrase those who can’t do teach. You’re better to find good investing partners in this day and age then pay large fees to be in groups. There’s so many networking groups as well as so many weekend seminars where you can work and find people like-minded. But always do your due diligence on who you’re working with because even in the small groups there are people who may not be who they seem they are.

Thanks Dave. 

It is important to people reading that just because you see property management in the name does not mean it is a legit property management company. Toledo has lots of problems with management companies here not being properly licensed, using "rent a broker's," and helping people from out of state invest and the end up in areas that are not profitable and are high maintenance and it only makes the "unqualified" managers money and not the investors. We are always happy to see new faces in Toledo as we need good quality landlords in this great city. And what that means is landlords that want to provide quality and safe housing. We don't need anymore slumlords and unlicensed property management companies. I am tired of cleaning up those messes. But if you are someone that got involved with the wrong company and your portfolio is not performing, you know how to find me. 

Angela Harding 

TPM Realty 

I am a broker in Michigan and Ohio. I am also a very seasoned investor in both states. 

If you are looking to invest in Michigan I would recommend Lansing (area) before Detroit. But I liquidated all of my assets as well as my investors assets a long time ago in Michigan and moved us all to investing in Toledo area. I am not an expert on Cleveland or Columbus but I will strongly recommend you visit the cities you may be interested in and tour the local market with a Broker/Agent that specializes in rentals. Cincinnati has an amazing network through Venna Jones Cox real estate group so that would be a good place to check out also. For my investors and myself, we stay in Toledo because there are so many opportunities here. But really do your research on building your team. We have a lot of investors leaving the Cleveland area and coming to Toledo because of code compliance and difficulty with management companies. It is a big city. We have some of the same issues with management here but there are a few good ones if you do your proper research. My best advise is to make sure your team has an acquisition specialist that knows the areas and which ones produce the best cash flow. Just because they have a real estate license does not mean they know anything about purchasing good investments. Hit me up if you want to take a look in the Toledo area! We are always hoping to have good investors come to Toledo. But where ever you are going to invest. Take the money and buy a plane ticket and go look at where your money is going. Be involved with your management company and realtor until you completely feel comfortable. There is a lot of big talk in this business.