All Forum Posts by: Matt Thompson

Realty Trust Services and Re/Max Haven Realty use Propertyware.

Foremost Insurance, which you can get through a Farmers agent, insures houses with knob and tube wiring.

Huntington Bank has no minimum loan amount.

So far I've bought turnkey (1 SFR and 1 Half-Duplex) in the areas that I mentioned and achieve 15% or higher COC, but returns like that are getting hard to find unless you are willing to buy a fixer upper. I prefer single family rentals over multi family because I prefer higher quality tenants with less turnover. I don't self manage my properties.

I ran the numbers with a conservative 5% each for vacancy, repairs, and cap-ex using zilculator.com at $1,150/month with the fees that you provided. The COC return is only about 6% and the cap rate is just below 7%.

You can easily invest in a REIT and get 7% or more passively with less risk or get the same or better return in the stock market over a long period of time.

I think investing in real estate is riskier, so I normally look for at least 10% return, preferably 15%. How much of a return are you looking for?

Other areas to consider are Euclid, Bedford, Brooklyn, and far western areas of Cleveland proper such as 44135 and 44111. Some people also like Maple Heights and Garfield Heights, but the taxes in those areas usually make it difficult to get a decent return.

Smartland will only manage homes they renovate and sell to buy and hold investors.

I considered Smartland when I bought my first rental in 2016. After looking at the numbers I decided to buy a recently remodeled home off the MLS instead. The ROI they advertise is a teaser rate for the first year without any budget for leasing fees, cap-ex, or repairs. To get a more realistic ROI estimate you have to look at their much lower year 2 estimates. I morally disagree with this advertising practice.

I also feared that their homes might be over remodeled and that I've never be able to sell for at least what I paid for them.