All Forum Posts by: Ben Clinger

Cleveland has a wonderful preservation group,the Cleveland Restoration Society, probably the best in the state. 

The is also the Ohio heritage home program available in most of NE Ohio, which will do free color consultations / advice on maintenance / curb appeal, that sort of thing. 

My personal opinion is brown door. Also, if the windows are original, I would make sure all the glazing is in good shape and paint the mullions and window trim to slightly emphasize them. I see original windows as a big selling point, especially if you are trying to sell it as a historic home.

I live in a duplex in Toledo's Old West End and what @Andrew Fidler said is pretty spot on.

There are issues investing in the OWE. The historic district proper is pretty safe (there is a neighborhood supported security patrol) but there will be issues with the preservation committee. They will allow you to make changes and modifications, but they will typically not allow them to be cheap and there will be paperwork involved for anything more than choosing a house color. Also the sheer size of the houses can be challenging, even if I wanted to replace the 100 windows in my duplex, it would cost more to do than the purchase price of the house itself. 

Outside of the district proper and the blocks get bad quickly. In certain areas you can see the district boundary, one side of the block will be nice, well kept houses and while the opposite will be a mix dilapidated multifamily conversions, abandoned burnouts, and vacant lots. But you can put all the vinyl siding and replacement windows you want over there.

@Nina Davenport 

Hi,

Judging just by my duplex (built originally as a duplex with a two pipe steam system), it can be a mess to switch from one boiler to two separate heating systems. The pipes can go where ever the pipe-fitter deemed appropriate 100 years ago and merge and connect as they saw fit. And the existing boiler will be oversized, and should likely be removed and a new smaller one put in to accommodate for the reduced load for a half system. I choose just to pay for heat and charge a higher price (it helps that I live in one of the apartments). It may be easier just to rip the whole thing out and install baseboard heaters everywhere.

You mentioned lack of insulation as well. Up here, the local gas company, Columbia Gas, will do an energy audit and then give you a subsidized rate to add missing insulation as long as its cost effective (I missed out, as my place is about 3/4 insulated, the blown is insulation is slowly settling and now only the first floor and half the second have it, but enough is not missing to justify the cost of adding more). My neighbor got 5k of insulation work done for 2k out of pocket so it could save a bit of money.

Good luck with the conversion! And, as an old house lover, try to make it easy to convert it back in case some fool like me ever gets ahold of it :)

Ben 

Are you sure that you will be selling to an investor? It seems like if there are not a large inventory of duplexes then this could be an ideal market for home buyers, who will likely pay more of a premium for their first house (I know I did!).

I am house hacking my duplex and one of the selling points was a 4 car garage, and I live in Ohio, not Minne-snow-ta.

I can't comment on the bureaucracy, but thanks for the cautionary tales!

I was thinking of putting my property into the section 8 program to get around the new lead law, at least until my current tenant leaves. Have you ever had any issues passing the inspection?

I found my duplex through the MLS, house hacking with a 1% FHA/OHFA loan.

I would go for an Ohio Housing Financing Agency loan which as grants and interest tax credits for first time homebuyers (that can used for up to a four plex), reducing the down payment to 1% if you really wanted.

I am going to guess that Akron is similar to the Toledo market it terms of depreciation over time, and so buying the max you can afford may mean that you will loose the most money when you exit.

100k in Toledo can buy a pretty nice duplex / 4-plex in Toledo proper, suburban markets are stronger and so you would get less for your money in terms of cash flow.

I do pay for internet for the duplex I am currently house hacking. I get a bump in the rent I charge, have a small tax write off, both flats don't come close to reaching monthly data cap limits and I don't notice a significant decrease in speed from multiple users.

The house is already set up for cable and dish, but neither flat has it. I might rip it out someday and rewire, as the wires do run along the side of the house instead of through the exterior walls, which is really simple to do in a balloon frame house.

The city of Toledo, OH is proposing a new "lead safe" ordinance which would affect rental properties with 4 or fewer units.

Proponents of the bill are expecting about a $50 / year cost per unit per year ($150 for dust wipes every four years plus a $50 admin fee to register with the city.

As an owner-occupier of a duplex built in 1912, I was wondering if anyone from places where similar ordinances were passed (Rochester, NY, and Baltimore, MD among others) could share their experiences.

I have heard that tearing out wood windows is about the only way to pass them due the friction of the window to the jamb creating small amounts of dust which causes them to fail the dust test, and I have 90 windows in my house that I don't want to get rid of.

I have also heard that there needs to be a lot of time consuming prep work that needs to be done immediately before the inspection occurs.

What will be the expected real costs for this ordinance? Toledo is already a dying city, and this added burden may be enough to force even more capital to flee from it.

She is the head of operations for the housing program, and the person who always contacts me back when I have questions.