All Forum Posts by: Brad M.

@Stone Jin

Small town residential investing is not something I generally get too excited about because the class property here is mostly D with some C, and quality tenants are few and far between. Plus in a small town everybody is in your business. The rental pool is small and they all just got fired or arrested (I know, they work for me). I could go 30 minutes outside my town but its not that much better there. The volume, professional services, and scalability available in the larger cities fits my long term strategy, as I'm not looking to manage most properties myself. I'm basically looking to park my business profits in real estate to create alternative income streams with high appreciation potential. I'm not afraid of long distance investing. My rentals in Florida are 18 hours away, and I've never had any major issue managing them from Ohio.

I'm not 100% against small town investing. I regularly analyze local deals. I have a mixed use building I'm negotiating right now in my town (12 plex upstairs with 7 commercial spaces downstairs on the major state road) that is very poorly managed and the upstairs needs gutted, but that is a unique situation. I'm also negotiating the purchase of a 40,000 S.F. warehouse for my business that I'm hoping to close by next summer once the current occupants lease is up. I'm interested in those properties mainly because they're good deals and they're 1/2 a mile from my house. 

Thanks for the input guys. I expected Columbus to be the overwhelming favorite. My thought process is maybe different than most, and admittedly I'm no where near an expert on any of these cities. While I think it would be almost impossible to argue that Columbus doesn't currently have a better market than the other two options, I'm concerned that the craze to buy there has created artificially inflated value. A feeding frenzy if you will. For example, I put in an strong offer (20k+ over asking, but to be fair, asking was low) on a cash only house in Grandview Heights last week that needed 100k in renovations. I was 6th out of 21 offers and it was only on the market for 2 days. I would love to invest in Columbus but I've been having a hard time finding a deal that I see value in up to this point in time. I need to grow my contacts and deal finding methods, which I have just started focusing on. That's why I joined BP. I'd definitely be more excited to invest in Columbus than the other 2, and I have a few contacts there. Ultimately a good deal is a good deal no matter what city it's in, and that's what I'm after.

1st  Post in BP. Newer resident in Ohio. Was previously investing in SW Florida, where I have 2 rentals. Have taken a hiatus from investing in real estate over the last 5 years to buy and grow a manufacturing business. Now that I have stabilized it and am generating good cash flow, I'm looking to actively invest in the Ohio area. I've mostly been considering Cleveland, Columbus, and Toledo and am interested in which one you would choose and why. I live in a very small town that is pretty close to the same distance from all 3 cities. I have my own opinions on which is best (for me), but I want to see what other people think and why. Would be especially interested to hear from anyone who invests in 2 or all 3 of the cities mentioned above.

Because someone will probably ask, here is some more info on preferences, goals, info. 

1. I'm not trying to replace my every day business with real estate investing. I just want to diversify income streams.
2. I play the long game. Very little interested in short term stuff.
3. When it comes to investing risk, I lean towards being more conservative.
4. I love a good tax write-off.
5. Interested in SF or MF, but am more versed in SF. 
6. Most interested in Class B or A.
7. I value equity over cash flow, but it still has to cash flow.
8. Looking at purchasing 2-3 properties a year.
9. I'm a big fan of passive investing. The more passive the better.
   
10. I am interested and actively researching other markets as well. The appeal of these cities to me is the proximity to my business and the ability to hire employees that can manage/operate them once there are enough properties to justify it.