All Forum Posts by: Barbara Berta

Hey Barbara, I have a property manager I can recommend for the LAIC service. Since they're responsible for the property, they’re selective about who they take on, but I can refer you to them. If they’re not able to assist, I also have other LAIC referrals as well that will just provide the service only. Feel free to DM me if you're interested.

Hi Nadeem, I already have a PM. Do they take on clients just for the LAIC service? Thank you

0 Votes

Cleveland, Ohio

Out-of-State Cleveland Investors!
How are you handling the new LAIC requirement in Cleveland? My current property management company doesn’t offer this service, and the only company I know of is very hard to communicate with. And I don't know anyone else....

3 Votes

Cleveland, Ohio

Quote from @Matthew Irish-Jones:

Quote from @Barbara Berta:

Quote from @Matthew Irish-Jones:

Quote from @Alex Alleva:

@Matthew Irish

@Matthew Irish-Jones Ive been seeing article that say Buffalo is going to be a great place to invest in 2024. Do you see the market still trending up? Are homes cash flowing well there. Im down in Westchester County and money sure doesn't go as far down here. Im looking to start investing upstate if it makes sense. thanks

I went to school in Westchester county, great place.

The value of homes in Buffalo are still trending up. The numbers in Buffalo are good, and you can cash flow with property management services built in. You can make more if you self manage, but that takes time to set up and there can be a learning curve that costs money.

Our agents are well versed in providing full financial breakdowns of every property they look at. Cash flow works on an inverse with risk, somewhere in the middle is normally the best place to start.

Which agency are you with? I'm also interested in investing in Buffalo, but don't know too much about it yet, I just like the numbers. :)

Hi, I am with Irish Jones, we specialize in Property Management, Investor focused agents, and investor focused construction services. I will shoot you a DM.

Awesome, thank you

0 Votes

Upstate New York, New York

Quote from @Samuel Diouf:

Quote from @Barbara Berta:

Quote from @Ryan Evans:

Hello all!

I'm looking into some duplexes in Cleveland as my first ever property. I've been living around the world for a while, but I'm from Seattle so I'm not familiar with the market beyond the research I've been doing in the forums and such.

For whatever reason, there are quite a lot of duplexes in Cleveland for sale. They seem to be renting for 500-750 per unit and they're selling from 10k on the really low end. I would love to be all in on one for 20-25k cash and bring in 1000/mo as a buy and hold, but that seems way too good to be true. I feel like I'm missing something.

Does anyone have experience in the area with those sorts of units? Are they easy/hard to rent? (Obviously, depends on the neighborhood and I know there is a good amount of crime)

I could fly out to buy/live there for a while to get it fixed/rented since I'm taking a break from work. It would be ideal to be hands on for my first deal.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated!

Hello Ryan, congrats on being so brave and executing the plan despite people trying to talk you out of it back then. Since it's been years ago, I'm curious about where you are at now, and what would you do differently.

Also, how were you able to find and vet your tenants from the West Coast? I also live on the West Coast and plan to invest in multiple properties in Cleveland. I'm flying there in November and would like to build connections with experienced people who invest in Cleveland. Thanks a lot :)

Hey Barbra, that's awesome that you're looking to get started!

When investing in Cleveland from OOS, I definitely recommend starting with a property manager. They will vet tenants, lease your units and help manage all problems that come up with your investment. Once you get a large enough portfolio, you could start to build out systems and bring the property management back in-house.

I totally agree, that was my plan too :)

2 Votes

Quote from @Matthew Irish-Jones:

Quote from @Alex Alleva:

@Matthew Irish

I went to school in Westchester county, great place.

Our agents are well versed in providing full financial breakdowns of every property they look at. Cash flow works on an inverse with risk, somewhere in the middle is normally the best place to start.

Which agency are you with? I'm also interested in investing in Buffalo, but don't know too much about it yet, I just like the numbers. :)

0 Votes

Upstate New York, New York

Quote from @Ryan Evans:

Hello all!

Does anyone have experience in the area with those sorts of units? Are they easy/hard to rent? (Obviously, depends on the neighborhood and I know there is a good amount of crime)

I could fly out to buy/live there for a while to get it fixed/rented since I'm taking a break from work. It would be ideal to be hands on for my first deal.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated!

1 Vote

Quote from @Russell Brazil:

Quote from @JD Martin:

Quote from @Barbara Berta:

Thank you everyone for the great advice!

The dispute is still not resolved, the seller still hasn't signed the release, so as a first step, I initiated a complaint with the real estate board.

I think in Ohio you can file in small claims court for amounts up to $6k. It's cheap and fast, so you should go forward with it. The court can order the money released back to you without the seller's permission. You can also drag it out - after 2 years they have to give it back to you unilaterally if the seller hasn't obtained a court order to take the money. Small claims would be better and faster, but whatever you do don't give in. And filing the ethics complaint is just something you do on top of it all, not as a way of getting your money back. I filed an ethics complaint against my old PM in Florida last year and we had a hearing. The Board ate him and his broker alive. Total fines for him was $1500 plus mandatory ethics and finance training in order to keep his license, and $1000 on his broker for improper supervision. That didn't get any of my money back from the crook but it sure felt good 😊

What here in the ops description suggests an Impropriety by the agent? The seller is refusing to release the funds, that's not the agents choice. One thing that people often overlook is that when someone may file a frivolous lawsuit or ethics complaint is that they run the risk of being sued/countersued for abuse of process. If someone filed a frivolous complaint against me I'm automatically out $5k for my e&o insurance deductible. So Id have no qualm suing for abuse of process.

The agent has interest in the deal, and he is the leader of xx RE group so after he refused to sign the release my agent’s brokerage went directly to his principal broker but it didn’t help…

0 Votes

Cleveland, Ohio

Lot’s of valuable info here, thanks a lot! This is the exact path I’ll follow! I won’t give in that’s for sure because I worked so hard on this deal to make it work, so it’s absolutely not my fault! He has no grounds for this….

0 Votes

Cleveland, Ohio

Thank you everyone for the great advice!

The dispute is still not resolved, the seller still hasn't signed the release, so as a first step, I initiated a complaint with the real estate board.

0 Votes

Cleveland, Ohio

Quote from @V.G Jason:

Out them on here. Nothing like negative press to make someone move.

There is actually a topic about them in BP. Everyone says to stay away from their company. I wait one more day, I hope he will change his mind, if not, I am happy to disclose names...

2 Votes

Cleveland, Ohio

All Forum Posts by: Barbara Berta

Barbara Berta has started 2 posts and replied 20 times.

Post: LAIC in Cleveland

Post: LAIC in Cleveland

Post: Investing in Buffalo,New York

Post: Advice on Duplexes in Cleveland, Ohio

Post: Investing in Buffalo,New York

Post: Advice on Duplexes in Cleveland, Ohio

Post: Seller not signing the release of EMD

Post: Seller not signing the release of EMD

Post: Seller not signing the release of EMD

Post: Seller not signing the release of EMD