All Forum Posts by: Griffin Myers

Hi @Brad F. - what's the difference between each of the different services you mentioned?

I live in Chicago but am closing on my first duplex (and first property in general) in 44109 by the end of this month, hopefully. I'm hoping to learn a ton with this first property and scale into more properties as my knowledge base grows.

Given I'm an OOS investor, I'm interested in making connections with people familiar with real estate investing in the Cleveland area. Please feel free to drop a note if you'd like to connect!

Separately, does anyone have any recommendations for Cleveland-based real estate investor groups/associations? Would love to join one of these groups to meet more people and grow my network further. I really appreciate any insight anybody is able to provide.

@Ryan Arth Sorry for my ignorance here, but I can't find a meet ups section on BP.

Are there any REI meet-ups in the Cleveland area? I haven't been able to find anything so far.

@John Leavelle thanks for the response John. Taxes are exactly the issue - I’ve seen maybe 1 or 2 properties with taxes less rhan $2,000 and most I’ve seen haven $3,000 or more.

Always appreciate the response @James Wise . Without thought I've kind of just followed the rule of thumb of capex being estimated at 10% of rent; it seems like that input might play a large part in all of my negative cash flow deals I've analyzed.

Instead of estimating capex at 10% of rents, do you think it would be reasonable to back into capex by dividing $20k (a little more conservative than $16,000) by 360 months to get a monthly allocation towards capex? Obviously this number might need increased on the front end if the duplex is due for a new roof, hot water tank, or furnace?

@Account Closed I mean obviously it would be nice if Unit 1 covered all costs for me, but it's not required. When I'm analyzing the deals, I'm assuming both units are rented, as I won't be living in the property after a year of purchasing (I'd move on to the next house hack). 

@Kris F. I was assuming tenant pays for everything but water. I think that kind of reiterates the issue I mentioned - I just don't see how any duplex that costs over $125k can cash flow using reasonable assumptions, unless rents are crazy high (like $2,000 a month vs. $1,500, or something unrealistic).

Where I'm located, a duplex in a decent area is going to run you at least $125k. Fully rented, rents in said decent area might be $1500-$1600/month. Taxes in Cleveland are generally high, with some areas being downright absurd. Assumptions include 10% for property management, 5% vacancy, 5% for repairs, 10% for capex, $75 for insurance and $100 for utilities. Considering those numbers along with a monthly mortgage payment of $620 (on a $125k property), I'm yet to find a deal that positively cash flows, and I've looked at a lot. I know the market is tight nowadays, but how is anyone finding deals? Are my assumptions bad? 

Apologies for the rant - I'm new at this, but it's getting frustrating analyzing over 50 properties and not one positively cash flows (and some people want over $100/door....?).

@James Wise Thanks for the response. I just want to reiterate, I wouldn't mind the taxes if they didn't completely kill any opportunity for cash flow - based on my cost assumptions (5% vacancy, 10% capex, 5% repairs, $75 insurance, $100 utilities), I'm yet to find a property that looks like it would cash flow in that area.

Point taken on the note about lower quality tenants - that is definitely food for thought.