All Forum Posts by: Billy Maloney

Terry Lao I’m also in so cal. I just sold a property with almost the same numbers. I was shocked by the taxes too. One other thing to watch for is city fee and taxes in certain areas. For example Euclid charges 200 per door annually just for having a rental. In Parma heights it’s 100 plus 2-3% tax on any profits. You have to be careful initially you think you have a 20% but once u get the whole picture it’s half.

Thanks @Michael Norris, @Don Petrasek Thank you guys.  I believe when i first listed parma it was definitely too high. I was naive and was hoping for more. Then lowered it a few time in Oct and i think got myself right into the winter holiday season.  I think my PM does a good job of management but there marketing is weak. They dont like to use craigslist for some legal reason.  I posted on craigslist myself yesterday and got some good leads. I am encouraging them to use it now. @Tom Ott at first there were not amazing photos for Parma and now we have good ones.  In Euclid i do not have good photos and I am on my PM about it now.  

@Federico Gutierrez yah agree,  I know the season has a big part in it right now. I understand, I’m from Boston.  I did start marketing beginning of September though.    When do renters start coming out again March? 

Im looking for investors/people that have a strong knowledge of the Cleveland rental market who can help me with two of my rentals. 

Im having trouble renting a SFH in Parma Heights and one half of a duplex in Euclid OH. I should say my PM is having trouble renting them for me. Need opinions on what my properties should rent for and and ideas to improving my chances of getting them rented . Any input would be appreciated.

@Nathan Gesner Agreed all those things are very important.  I still find that even after taking all those step you still dont really know how good they really are until something goes wrong and they are tested. Many PM are great at one thing and not others. All we can do is do our best to reduced the risk as much as possible by taking all the step you mentioned. Thanks for writing all the steps out like that it's really helpful.

I agree with all of what Derek P. wrote about investing out of state. When I had my first vacancies it seems like my PM are out to make me broke. That s why people like Michael Swan will tell you that you better have 10k in reserves for each property. I bought my first property TK and it has had no problems yet but the other 3 I bought on my own have been really difficult. It can be miserable at times when things aren’t going well and it feels like you are losing money. You want to trust in you PM but it’s really hard to know if they are really taken care of things. They will tell u what you want to hear. That has been my struggle so far. You have to have thick skin in order to survive the emotional rollercoaster. Reading David s book will definitely help set you up for minimizing problems and risk, but you still have to understand that there will always be unexpected issues that come up especially in the first year.

I used Memphis invest for my first property. I have a good experience with them. Property performs great. They call me once a month no matter what just to check in and see if I have any questions or concerns. If you can find numbers that work for they are good at what they do.

Only con I can thinking of is they want you to use their preferred lender if that matters to you. 

John Cushing sure. I paid 153k it appraised at 155k. Put 20% down about 35k. Rents for 1520. My mortgage payment including taxes and insurance 937month. Property management 152month. Net is 431. When I ran numbers with 7 % vacancy and 10% for repairs/cap ex. (I would go higher on the repair/cap ex if it weren’t turnkey.) It turned out to be about a 7% cash on cash. The first 2.5 years have had no vacancy and only one small repair for 250. So my actual return has been about 16% cash on cash. Of course that will get averaged down when I have tenant turn over and more repairs. It has also appreciated a bit.

@Jay Hinrichs in a way yes I was agnostic.  I went with the opportunities that were presented to me. The team on the ground came recommended by people I trusted. I did my homework, ran my numbers made offers and looked for any signs to walk away.  If everything seemed good at that point I took the leap.  There were deals I walked away from for various reasons.  When I look back I believe I did things the way they should be done but one thing you cant predict is a smooth ride. Sometime you have to learn what not to do to figure out what to do. 

@Jay Hinrichs That is a great question.  Investing in 3 markets is a result of "taking action " overload mixed with shiny object syndrome haha.  I wouldn't say the properties I bought were shiny but the numbers were!!! big difference.   When i spoke with various people they would suggested the markets they were investing in and offer to connect me to an agent work with.  I kept sayings sure why now.  Then when that agent sent me a good looking deal i went for it.  One of the most difficult things out of state investors have to deal with is choosing a market. Once you decide that you are going to invest outside your own market the whole country basically becomes your playground. I wish I could say I really thought and planned it out but i did not. If I were to do it over I would have probably focused my efforts and i would advise other people to do the same.  Its has allowed me to expand capacity to handle more at once and now I suppose you can say I'm diversified.  My goal from here is to focus more and create solid systems.