All Forum Posts by: Ben W.

@Timothy Campbell, Welcome.  Great market you are moving into.  Take your time and become familiar with the many distinct markets within the Cincinnati Metro area; as you may or may not know, the city has an East side and a West side that are quite distinct and then the various beltways around the city provide for other distinction.  I believe it is important to have a plan and that it is ok to test that plan and change it from time to time.  There are many good people in this market who are willing to help you along the way.  Let me know if I can help you with a list of several brokers who are investor friendly, if that is what you want.  Hyde Park is overpriced; it is a very nice area but you can certainly find quality places near there in such places as Oakley, Walnut Hills and Norwood.  All are centrally located.  Thanks for your service to our country.  I know that your experience will serve you well.  Best wishes.

@Christopher Smith, good to hear it is working out for you.  We are local, and, while we do not play in the upper end like you do, we find that it is all about expectations and follow through.  Happy continued investing.

We deal in the low to moderate income space and do achieve those returns.  Again, we manage for ourselves, but its a good thing here.  PM me if want to chat.

@Christopher Smith, good to hear it is working out for you.  We are local, and, while we do not play in the upper end like you do, we find that it is all about expectations and follow through.  Happy continued investing.

Ben

I am not a CPA but I play one on TV...  I do have a finance background, do my own taxes for the portfolio we have and believe I understand the fact set.  You are doing an installment sale but at no profit.  If you sold at a profit, you could defer the gain if payments came over time.  In your case, I believe you are correct in that you would only recognize the interest income.  Hopefully you are charging a high enough interest rate to at least make this leaning endeavor somewhat worthwhile.  In a backhanded compliment kind of way, at least you are exiting.  I would make sure you button up the sale docs and ensure that you are not only secured on the sale but make sure that your docs give you an opportunity to monitor the continued conditions of the building.  There are too many contractors, and others, who cannot manage and would easily walk away after trashing YOUR building.  Remember, it is NEVER over until it is over and you have a long way to go and a lot invested in this.  Good luck.  

@Robert Wilson

I would be interested in hearing your experience.  I always start as a non-believer with this sort of thing. 

@Jalissa Hutchins, as with anything for which you are going to pay, research and compare.  In my opinion, you do not need to pay the prices you suggest nor pay guru's to buy their courses.  Education is important as is the follow through/hard work.  BP is a wonderful community.  Do not feel at a disadvantage due to resources, experience, etc.  You probably do need to start by doing an assessment of your goals and develop a strategy.  IM me if I can help guide you further.

@Ben Gammon, Yes, we do have a number pptys in both CUF and Clifton areas.  I am actually very diversified across the Metro Cincinnati market with holdings in about half (26) neighborhoods.  As many have pointed out on these forums, Cincinnati, like many markets, is neighborhood by neighborhood and even street by street.  We have no problem finding attractive deals that fit our criteria (we are do not invest in hipster neighborhoods). 

@Arjun K., I will offer one comment: you are right to ask that everyone use the same metrics, however, even before looking at ongoing metrics, many investors kids themselves at the front end and forget about minor costs going into a deal. (Note: I am a big money down investor and try to only put my money as we need to or to at least have the properties fund the upgrades/rehabs). That being said, even when I buy for cash, I find very few pptys that meet my rent-ready standards. Example: I purchased a 2 BR recently for $23K; ARV is $35-$40K; rents are $700 (had a tenant ready at closing). House needed just a little touching up, but found later some modest upgrades desired so spent another $2K. Still, the ROI meets by criteria and we are stable by end of month one. This is a C class neighborhood and we know what we are getting as we have 8 other pptys in the neighborhood.

@Yaw Anku and @Pete Tam, we local Cincinnati investors welcome you.  Cincinnati and other Midwestern towns are still great secrets to many.  That being said, it does require a knowledge of the local market and we believe, boots on the ground.  The returns are in the lower class neighborhoods where you have to do some work, but it is rewarding. 

I am mostly in the SFR segment but do look at opptys in the multi. Other areas beside what @Adam Curry and others mentioned that do not scare us and offer decent returns are:  Golf Manor and Reading.  @Sean Cole referenced that Cincinnati is really street by street, block by block.  As an example, Norwood can be nice or scary.  Happy hunting.

@Sunny P. it is difficult to tell by your profile how much experience you have but I will pass along my two cents.  The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and getting the same results.  Sounds like you may need to change things up.  Do you have a team (realtor, mentors,...).  Have you examined your criteria?  Have you made offers (they can be low ball offers just to get engagement by the sellers).  We are active investors here in Cincinnati and have no problem finding good deals here.  In fact we hold properties in over half of all the Cincinnati neighborhoods so have a good sense of what is attractive (for us). 

Don't give up if believe you are really wired for the REI game.

@Jay Hinrichs makes very good points.  I am Cincinnati based and have purchased at the weekly Sheriff sales.  The problem with many of these sales is that unless you know what you are doing, it is easy to get into a higher bid (the experienced buyers "know" what the quality opportunities are) and for the lower priced deals, you may not have had the ability to view the inside.  I would suggest that you thoroughly think through your business model.  Are you looking to fix and flip?  As @Sean Cole will likely attest, margins are getting tighter and not all areas in the market are seeing the same lift.  You might want to seek the advise of an experienced Wholesaler (an honest one).  What area do you want to focus - A, B, C or D areas.  Also, there are plenty of ways to purchase other than at auction; many of these will allow you the proper due diligence.

Happy hunting.