All Forum Posts by: Dave Poeppelmeier

If you're looking to simply Buy and Hold, depending on what class of property you're looking at, yes you can find deals right now. If you're looking to BRRRR from out of town, it's difficult but not impossible. You might not be able to get 100% of your money out of properties, but you can get a good chunk. You really do need to bring cash for that right now, otherwise the lender closing costs for the purchase and refinance after is going really hurt your return.

If you do it "on your own" - looking for general contractors or trying to manage your trade-specific contractors (roofing, plumbing, electric, etc), you can get more bang for your buck. A big HOWEVER is that you need to know what you're doing with rehabs so you can keep tabs on the GC/contractors. The second that they know you're out of town or if they sense that you don't know what you're doing (or both), they're going to take you for a ride. It stinks, but that's the way it is. 

If you're still new, then you do need to rely on a Property Manager. With PMs, they manage the project for you, but you're going to pay for that service. But, if you're willing to put the capital in up front, you can find houses that are sitting there right now that need a full cosmetic reno for a lot less than you could last year. You drop $20-30k into it, refinance,  and now you have a solid long term property to hold onto that you know is set for a while. It just depends on how much "work" you want to put in as an investor. 

In Toledo, the Electric and Gas bills are in the renter's names. Water has to be in your name, but Ohio has legislation on track to limit a property owner's responsibility if someone leaves the faucets on when they move out and run up a huge bill. I also had to evict someone this Spring, and it was 6 weeks to the day from posting a 3-day notice to bailiffs making sure the home was vacated. No unlimited stays here. 

The biggest mental jump you have to accept is that a Property Manager is going to treat your houses as part of their business, and that's all. NOBODY is going to care for your properties as much as you will. There will be a feeling out period as you see how they handle things, as well as they see what your expectations are. But like @Jill F. said, find out what your exit abilities are before you finalize everything. 

Yes, we all remember how we were when we were 19-22 years old... But renting to college students isn't sitting by the phone waiting to hear that your house burned down. 

If you can find an opportunity close to a college campus, you can treat it as a Student Rental even if you don't have students in there. You have to make sure that the college students feel that it is in a Student Rental area: sometimes just by  crossing a street you're no longer in what's considered a Student Rental area. If you do have a property in that area, you can charge the higher Student rates (I always have everyone on one lease) even to non-students. You might be able to make money with individual leases, but that's where it can get crazy having 4 leases for 1 property, etc.). You just have to make sure that the leases stick to the Academic Calendar: August - July, to make sure you can keep renting to Students when a move-out occurs. 

The key is you have to be providing a nice house/unit. It doesn't need to have granite countertops (however, that's also a segment of the student population you can go after), but it needs to be clean and solid, with no holes in walls, doors that don't work, etc. If students are in a nice unit, there's much less of a chance they will jack it up. You also need to know where their money is coming from like @Andy Sabisch mentioned. Scholarships? Mom and Dad? Working 30 hours a week in addition to going to school? If it's scholarships or Mom/Dad, you don't have to worry about credit checks, just do a background check so you know if you have someone with a history of drugs or getting into bar fights wanting to move in. It also helps to have parents be co-signers, so that way 1. They're on the hook for repairs greater than the security deposit and 2. The kids will worry that Mom and/or Dad will kill them if they screw up. 

The other thing you need to keep in mind is the leasing schedule. At some schools, the kids look for their next house in the Spring, but at other schools, they're looking for the next house the Fall of the previous year! It's way different than just a normal LTR where you have the move out/clean-up/marketing/leasing process. 

Overall, it's definitely a niche of RE, but a profitable (and fun to me) one as well. If you are going to do it from afar, you MUST have a PM that knows what they're doing with Student Rentals. Ask how many Student Rentals they manage, ask what they consider Student Housing (sometimes a LOT different than what students would consider), and ask if they charge more to manage those. Otherwise, it's probably better to manage something like that on your own locally so you can become more of an expert on your local college/university. Let me know if you have any other questions!

 Unless you needed to sell in 2009...

@Monte Riding Yes, echoing what others have said is you need to do your own homework. Always remember, however, that there's (usually) and inverse relationship of returns to ease of purchase. The easier the purchase, the less return you're going to get. For a turnkey property, your returns are not going to be fantastic off the bat. If you can find a turnkey that 1. The rehab was done correctly 2. Decent renter has been placed and 3. Is in a C or better neighborhood, now you're talking. Like @Patrick Drury mentioned, before you even sniff an out of town turnkey, be sure to get a Realtor in that area who knows what they're looking for to check it out for you. A lot of times these properties will look gorgeous with fantastic numbers... in D class areas. But, despite all of these ominous warnings, if you can get one that cash flows something right now, it's usually going to do very well for you in 5 or 10 years with raising rents and appreciation. Good luck!

Most areas make you register your rental properties now in Ohio. Regarding the ordinance, you're lucky they've tabled it and not just rammed it through (cough... Toledo and Cleveland... cough). I would contact other non-slumlords and go to the slumlords as a group and say "hey, let's clean things up before we're all screwed" or something to that effect. The city will do something if the problem is not addressed, and you're likely going to get swept up in it whether you like it or not. I would also attend city council meetings and do your best to get in front of them as the responsible owner and show that not everyone is a slumlord and propose alternatives that aren't as harsh. Jaded people will say "that'll never work!" and frequently it doesn't, but it's your only other option besides complaining about it. Don't be that guy! 😄 Good luck. 

Full disclosure: I own no Airbnb, Beach Houses, etc... But as a parent, kids love pools, even with the ocean. It's just a cleaner environment for them to swim in the evening after being at the beach all day. Go putt-putting during the day? Jump in the pool when you get home. Went out for ice cream? Jump in the pool. I agree with everyone saying that if the comps justify it and you plan on holding for a while, then do it, it just seems like it would make it even more in demand. 

@Erika Geoffrey if you are not local, let alone international, then buying in small towns is tough. The biggest issue is Property Management. IF there are any legit property managers there, it's usually only one person/company, and you are at their mercy for literally everything. Regarding purchasing for cash flow, many people do that, but it depends on your investment goals. Some people want the boring check in the mailbox every month, others want to buy in a hot area, wait 10 years, then cash the big check. Totally up to you. 

@Sam Albury Stryker is a perfect example. Cute little rural town in NW Ohio, but limited renter pool for sure, and management is going to be the issue. For rentals in towns like this, word of mouth and a sign in the front yard is usually what's needed. Toledo has many more options for PM, available listings, etc. Let me know if you have any more questions about Toledo and the surrounding areas. 

I agree with @Michael P., it can change quickly here. You can have B class neighborhoods 1/8 of a mile from C- ones. Toledo is definitely where you want to be for cashflow, and those zip codes will give you the tenants you're looking for. Let me know if you have any other questions about the area.