All Forum Posts by: Gordon Starr

I live and invest in Dayton and my eyes turn to Columbus. Not so much because I want to invest there.. No, I really miss living there!

I can see is that Cbus is and has been a seller's market for a long time. Dayton has been in a buyer's market since like 1968 or nearly that ridiculous. This buyer's market now is kind of unprecedented. Also, the murder rate is up like 50 percent over it's previous bloody maximum. F***

A lot of what I consider b/c is on the north side in long standing areas like Englewood, vandalia, Huber heights, and emerging areas closer to downtown like Shiloh, university heights, and Dayton triangle.

The market here has turned sharply higher since this thread was posted. At the buy end, a lot of competition is coming from move-in buyers who are doing higher end rehab jobs. Also, the city track hoe has been ripping out the few remaining rotten holes as Riverdale booms daily. I love it. Anecdotally, I am hearing it is still tough to find contractors with time for new projects, though. 

Dayton is really booming with rehabbers pounding out turns, the city track hoe ripping out rotten holes into greenspace parks. I love it! Then again I have my own small family construction company that is perpetually swamped. Anecdotally, I am hearing it is tough to find reliable contractors who can take on new work. My advise for out of towners is buy completely finished housing stock and wait out this contractor shortage. Check out the listing for 260 Westwood ave. Dayton, OH. That's one of mine.. an example of a beautiful finished house where you could be patient and find the ideal tenant.

In recent years, it has been really important in Dayton to have reliable contractors who can take on new work. My own construction fix, turn, and flip is a small family outfit and we are perpetually swamped. There are just so many distressed properties and the demand is quite high for completely rehabbed rentals. Further demand comes from move in buyers who are swarming to the better parts of Dayton. Our B/C, C, and D classes are where you will find the cash flow on super solid buildings and deals. My advise is buy fully finished properties for now and wait out this contractor shortage. Take a look at the listing for 260 Westwood Ave. There is an example of a beautiful completed place where you could just be patient and find the ideal tenant.

In Cleveland and Dayton, the city proper has alot of vacancy. Until recently you could buy an abandoned house for the same price as a vacant lot from the city planners. They were literally selling houses for the price of dirt... I was getting cash flows on such property of 30 percent of capital outlay. BUT.. I do it all myself.. am there on location alot. ..know the neighbors... Come by my places en route to my other places right by my home.. it's impossible to do that from a distance.. so you are going to need a team if you are from out of town... The higher the cash flow the higher the risks it seems

Hey, great move I say. Yeah Dayton is growing! Youngstown may be a great under tapped asset. These factories are getting refurbished at a slow steady pace in Dayton. It's very diverse and I know it well. What part of town are you interested in? Hope you got something super solid.

If you decide to sell, I would not wait around to do so. Fix that thing up and get it on the market! Right now the market is not too bad, but in the future, that kind of property could be tough for buyers to afford.