All Forum Posts by: Jon Passow

@Jon Passow  I didn't know ANYBODY in Cleveland before I started investing out there last year. I reasearched and figured out where the best cashflow markets are for duplexes and triplexes with a reasonable entry point as far as initial investment. Came up with Milwaukee and Cleveland.......then I started contacting people. I reached out to people here on BP as well as agents on Zillow that had DUPLEXES listed for sale in those areas and found out who THEY recommend as PM's.  After calling the PM's and interviewing by phone them AND agents....I flew out to Ohio......twice.......saw properties....met agents and PM's......and have bought 3 properties there since. 

YOU have a tremendous opportunity in that market in that it's your home town so you know people.  

Go for it.

@Jon Passow healthcare is an industry......Cleveland not only has the Cleveland Clinic but also University Hospitals which is a nationally renowned teaching hospital. There is a significant presence of healthcare related companies in the area (and growing).  There is also still a decent small specialty manufacturing base that is not going away due to 2nd or 3rd generation owners who grew up here.  We also have strong financial services (banking and insurance) employers - Key Bank and Progressive Insurance are based here to name just 2.  

The rental market here is very strong.  I rented my Lakewood double in two weeks last December (worst month here due to weather) and had my pick from 4-5 very strong candidates.  We are just finishing getting a single family in Cleveland ready for rent.   Yesterday while we were there, we had 2 neighbors knock on the door saying they had friends or relatives who were looking for a rental + one guy from down the street who wanted to buy it (in the course of about an hour and a half).  We're raising the rent about 6% (over last years raise) and may go even higher.....no doubt it will rent in a few days, there's no inventory.  

Having friends and family here to help is key.  That makes market choice a no brainer to me.   Good luck, let me know if I can help in any way.

You could be a cash partner with someone else that is qualified and willing to do all day to day management. You could then be involved as little or as much as you wish. Alternately you could invest in turn key and concentrate on managing your PM.

No way you can have passive income in real estate if you are managing yourself.  Turn your back and it could easily go to h*ll.

You must manage your properties or manage your employees. Real estate investing is a a bigger job that most realise.

@Jon Passow I used a PM.  They list it through their website which then pushes it out to Zillow, trulia etc. 

note it did take two weeks before those photos to get it rent ready, as we had to get quotes and estimates and then they painted and cleaned the interior which took about a week.  But once those photos were posted it took 3 days.  April is the hot time of year for the market in Cleveland I believe.  Probably summer is to.

also worth noting my last rental in Cleveland rented in 3 days after the marketing photos were posted.  That should give you an idea. 

Jon Passow generally if you’re going out of state doing so in an area you have local friends or family is a good idea.

I’ve bought in Cleveland and will be buying more there in the future. The whole declining population thing isn’t great but it only tells one part of the story. A lot of the suburbs are thriving. My last tenant just moved to Cleveland from out of state. So it does still work.

Kiyosaki admitted that his books are "anecdotal" and are really more of motivational books not how to guides. Taking any of the advice in them is at your own peril (just like any other book for that matter). The intent is there i.e. hussle and you can make money but the details on execution should be taken with a grain of salt. Doing the hard work is the teacher not Robert Kiyosaki. 

@Warren Currier  Willets is north of SF on 101 and about 25 miles north of Ukiah.. very pretty area.

Seabiscut lived there.  BAck in the day there were some great ranch's there and over in Lake Co.. 

Like Sprekles sugar mansion etc.  and lots of hot springs 

now on to RK as @Wayne Brooks  PURE FANTASY  

now you can in some states bid with a deposit at sherrifs sales.. but the competition in 99% of the counties in the US is so keen that those kind of profit margins are simply not there. 

in CA its cash on the barrel head to buy one.  although i suspect there could be some distressed assets in Brooktrails if you look hard enough.. Or want to drive out to Lake pillsbury and buy at Pillsbury Pines.. I bought a lot of tax sale stuff there in the day.. 

this area was also known as ground zero in the weed cultivation back in the late 70s and 80s  I cut my teeth selling Ranch land in that area as a young broker.. Mainly lake co.. but did some work there and up towards Covelo on the back side of Sanhedrin mountian.. nice area though for sure and growth out of the bay area is pushing that way..  I wonder if some of the Santa Rosa burn out victims are looking that far north.. long way but commute is easy.