All Forum Posts by: Dmitri K.

@C. 

@Timothy Murphy III - i think at this point it is not so much about getting the money, but mostly making things right. I don't think it's right to not pay rent, i don't think it's right to steal from the house, i don't think it's right to cause damages to the property. And if we (landlords) just accept these kinds of behaviors - we are going to end up with more and more tenants that just don't give a @#$%! I think by not pursuing these 2-d clauses and garnishments we reinforce the idea and someone can just do whatever and move on to the next property.

I would be content with not getting a penny, as long as i know that the person had to pay! Even if everything that gets' recovered goes to cover the attorney costs.

At the same time i would not want to pay an attorney upfront fee - as it completely negates his willingness to really try and get that money (in my opinion).

Could anyone here can recommend a collection agency or an attorney that specializes in collections.

I have an eviction settlement, that i can't collect on.

Thank you!

@Brandon Schlichter, so this is the same case that i was referring to. But i don't think a local case applies to the rest of Ohio. Unfortunately, i am not financially in a position to take on the city of Cleveland myself.

@Federico Gutierrez, i am in the Kamms Corner of the city of Cleveland. I think part of the problem is that i am an out of state and i get the feeling that the city of Cleveland is prejudice towards out of state investors. 

I am realizing that there is very little order in how the city is handling things. They do things commando style, reminds me of the first Rambo movie :). Fox example i just had a board of revision hearing to reduce my property taxes on the basis of purchase price. My request was granted and they reduced that taxable amount to the purchase price, however, two months later they send me new bills for 2015 with the value of the houses raised by 200%!!! WTF? So these kind of practices make me freak out about home inspections. What if they tell me to strip all the paint because there are traces of lead? I myself live in a 100 year old home - and i am sure there is lead paint under 10 coats of paint somewhere.

I would really love to hear about what these inspections are like. Can these be ignored? I am literally contemplating if i should or should not send the check with the registration fee right now.

Anyone has experience with Rental Inspections in the city of Cleveland? This is different from the point of sale inspection or section 8 inspections.

Looks like it's pretty recent and Cleveland requires annual ($35) registration which requires a mandatory inside and outside inspection for any rental.

What worries me about this is that it's going to be abused by the inspectors. I am already getting slapped with violation notices that are kind of bogus. For example the trim paint is peeling on my garage. If i let an inspector into the house is he going to tell me to fix every scratch and dent? Has anyone dealt with this in Cleveland? 

I was doing some research into it and there is a court decision that deemed these unconstitutional (but not in Cleveland, obviously): www.thetimesherald.com/story/money/business/2015/1...

Anyway, just want to hear other people's experience with it.

Looking for Cleveland wholesalers. I've searched the site and even connected with a few people, but was expecting a little more action in terms of being put on the mailing lists and being contacted. But so far nothing. Any active wholesalers out there?

Thank you all for your replies. I am trying to get another estimate based on the insurance writeup and have it be as detailed as possible. To give you an idea - the roof was damaged in a few places - basically there are 2 holes and many shingles are missing is several spots. Areas of attic and bedroom need new insulation, sheetrock, paint. Contractors insist on new roof, because they can not guarantee their work if this gets patched up. (this is of course is working in my favor if i can get a half aged roof replaced).

The insurance is willing to pay $3300 + ~$1200 for depreciation when work is completed. My deductible is a little over $1000. So altogether this comes up to ~$6500 to complete the work. My contractors estimate was $15000

Seems that i have about 14 SQ of roof. Insurance quoted 1 coat of paint for the room. And they don't seem to quote the replacement of water damaged sheetrock.

At this point my options are to either take what they give me and just patch up the holes. As i can't afford to pay for the full replacement. Or continue to negotiate with both the insurance and contractor to come up with a price that works for both. I do want to do with this this contractor, as i am remote and i've dealt with him before and trust his work.

What is interesting, is that i've been with this company for many years, have 2 cars and 8 homes insured with them(+ umbrella policy), and this is my first claim ever.

So i had some roof damage and opened a claim with my insurance. I asked my contractor to give me an estimate and submitted that to the insurance. I trust this guy's work and would really prefer to have this done by him. With that said, i understand that anytime you mention insurance, estimates get bigger then what it might have cost otherwise. However insurance company came up with a cost that is 3 times lower then the contractor's estimate. (when i told him he just laughed).  I asked another contractor that i've dealt with before and he was in the same ballpark with my contractor's price. 

With that said, do you guys know if there is a "universal" insurance rule that allows me to pick my own contractor. Again, i am not trying to golden-plate my roof, but looks like that gap is so big that i can't even start the work. And i still have holes in the roof and it's raining...

Awesome, appreciate the reassurance guys! As i said, the numbers look good, but because i've only been exposed to the Cleveland market for a year i felt like i could use an advice from experienced investors.

By the way - this is the article that i was referring to, and what made me worry about my investment strategy: http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/02/25...

And to be honest, i can kind of relate to it. One of my properties is a perfect match to a $30k property that Ben (in the above post) describes. It is still in a somewhat decent area of west Cleveland but only commands $900 in rent. With property taxes, insurance and maintenance being about the same as the other homes - i can barely see anything left. Plus, coincidentally or not, but this is the property that i had my first evection with- on the third month of lease :) Additionally i am still not able to refi it, due to low mortgage amount. I still want to try and make this house work, but seems that anything below $1000k a month in rent is going to be trickier to cash-flow. Of course this is for a SFH. Not yet sure if economies of scale work different for apartment buildings.

What has been your experience, guys?

Forgot to mention a 10% vacancy rate that i assume.

I've acquired a few properties in Cleveland in the past year, and at this point i am starting to worry that maybe i am pushing too hard or doing something dumb. So, i am not exactly in the $30k category that Ben Leybovich described in his post, but i am close.

I would appreciate an advice and analysis of my first deal: 

So i bought a SFH 1,200+ sq/f in the Kamms corner area of Cleveland.

Purchase price: $43,000 (cash)

Closing costs: ~$2500

Rehab: $15,000

Rent: $1250 a month.

Prop management: 10%

Cap Ex. 10% (at this point it's assumed, i have not yet had to do anything)

Insurance: $50/month

Taxes: $200/month

After a 6 moths holding period I cash out refinanced the house and pulled $53,000 of equity.

At this point i have about 7-8k of my cash in the house. 

Mortgage payment(including taxes and insurance) are $520 a month.

What do you guys think?

My other homes look more or less the same.

Thank you!