All Forum Posts by: Ben Smalley

I would agree with Bob 2-3 years on average. If you have to replace a tenant every year you are doing something wrong.

If it is just testing, $2,800 is quite a lot. A duplex should be $800-1000 but if there is work to be done to prep before the test $2,800 might make sense. You do have to do it but the Ohio Supreme court struct down the ruling that you need to have it done in order to evict so that is no longer a requirement. 

That is normal. It takes forever in Cleveland and even when you get a hearing date that does not mean the hearing will go smoothly. The judge could throw it out for bad service, 3-day notice not completed correctly, tenant did not have enough notice....it is ridiculous and increasingly more difficult to evict in the City of Cleveland. 

That is exactly why I started my management company, I hated the contracts I was seeing. We do not have termination fees or clawback fees like you outlined and investors are very happy with us. 

Regarding your situation though, it was in the contract you signed so it would be tough to get out of that. My only advice would be consult a contract attorney and if you could show that the PM breached the contract first e.g. by not responding in a timely manner and that materially impacted the flow of business then perhaps you could argue at that point they were not performing and you can terminate without paying the clawbacks. You will likely need to pay an attorney $1500 to do this though so may not be worth the headache.

You need to be licensed to manage properties for third-party owners. However you can perform work on an hourly basis. There is also an exception if you are an owner -- essentially you can manage your own properties. I have heard others you have a 1-5% stake in the property LLCs they manage but I would consult an attorney for sure.

Yeah that type of property does not exist anymore. That sounds like Cleveland 5-7 years ago. You might be able to do a single-family in a C area like Maple Heights or Garfield Heights 

Make sure you have this done otherwise they will not let you move forward with your evictions!

A few singles we manage in South Euclid are in the $1100-1300 range. Lakewood has gotten really expensive and personally I do not think the rents work. Same with this South Euclid deal it sounds like. There are still good cash flow deals out there but you need to look at other areas. Maybe Euclid or 44109

The electric baseboard heaters can be finicky just make sure each panel or the circuit can handle the amps otherwise you will get a lot of tripped circuits and annoyed tenants. One thing I like about converting to the baseboard in MFs is that that common area gas bill is shifted to tenant electric so you effectively eliminate an owner paid bill. If the cost / benefit is there then I say do it

Cleveland is great for cash flow but there are a lot of nuances with the Cleveland market. Also make sure your agent is familiar with rentals and investment properties. I have heard so many times an agent tell a buyer one rent price only to be shocked to hear market rent is really $200 lower from the property manager.