All Forum Posts by: James Maradits

Obviously this is going to vary greatly based on occupancy (1 person will use less water generally than a family of 5) and some other factors like how efficient your plumbing fixtures are, but I usually run numbers with a ballpark of $75 a month for water and sewer.  Ironically I just got an email from the water department with my bill for a duplex I own in Cleveland and it was $44.95 and sewer this month was $53.16 (2x 2bed units with 4 tenants total and newer fixtures).  

The sewer bills vary by location and they even factor in the "ERU" which measures the roof and paved space on the property which creates water run off into the sewer system vs space where storm water would be absorbed into the soil.  There is a fixed service fee on both water and sewer bills, and there are fixed charges for waste collection and other service fees.  The actual water portion was only $9 of the bill.  With that being said having more units on the same water service won't be a directly proportional increase due to the fact that a good chunk of the bill is made up of misc fees unrelated to the water usage, which explains why the post above mentions a 6 unit water bill being similar to that of a duplex.

Hey, Josh! Sounds like you have the right idea about getting started with a duplex. Assuming you're intending to owner occupy (house hack) this one? If that's the case it's definitely going to largely depend on where you want to live and what you can afford. Using a low down payment FHA or conventional loan, you can get yourself into a nice multi unit property in an area like Lakewood or Kamm's corner that may not be feasible or make sense from an investment perspective if you had to buy with an investment type loan.

Well said.  I'm a lot like you in the self manage/rehab department.  

I definitely see my fair share of "out of towners" that are (in my opinion) being mislead about what they are getting themselves into whether it is unrealistic expectations--thinking that they are getting 2012 type deals still-- or being steered wrong and buying in areas that are not as stable as they are being hyped up to be.  It seems that many are being nickel and dimed to death by property management fees and poor performance that kill a lot of 'would be' good deals as well. 

With your premium membership you should be able to access this:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

I prefer the West side to avoid POS and rental registration hassles. 44111,44135,44109 all should have inventory that fits the criteria you've laid out. It is a bit more competitive (most good deals on the MLS on the West side will get multiple offers and sell for asking price or beyond very quickly) but there is still opportunity there.

East side is okay if you're prepared to deal with POS, paying $200+ rental registration fees and the costs of associated repairs, so on and so forth.  Keep in mind that property managers are going to charge service fees to handle this paperwork and be present at inspections on top of their normal placement fees and monthly fees.

Rental income should be able to be counted towards your income.  If you can rent the property prior to refinancing it this will probably be beneficial for you since you'll have the lease to prove that the property is generating income.

http://www.city-data.com/zips/...

City data has some pretty cool information if you're looking for specifics.  While it is certainly valuable to gather info from the experience of others, it's probably best to determine your own criteria of what makes a "grade" (whether income levels, population increasing/decreasing, crime rates, etc) rather than just take someone's opinion or marketing materials as the end all be all.  I see a lot of out of state investors get burned by buying things in areas that they assumed to be of a higher "grade" than what their results showed it to be.

If you end up in the Warrensville Heights portion of 44128 keep in mind that there will be POS and occupancy/rental license requirements in place that may cause unexpected costs to add up quite quickly for you.

Mateus,

I got my license a few years back through Hondros by taking weekend classes.  I would really recommend going in person as you will learn a lot more than the online classes.  I've since done a few online courses and haven't learned nearly as much as I did by attending the Hondros classroom.

Once you are close to having your license, talk with a few brokers to determine who is the best fit for your needs.  If you plan on transitioning into a career agent, KW or one of the bigger players might have the best training and assistance for you to get started.

Best of luck!  Feel free to shoot me a PM if you could use any specific advice.

 There tends to be a little bit more inventory at lower price points in the areas you've mentioned.  I suspect a lot of this has to do with the POS requirements making it difficult for the average owner/occupant type buyer to make purchases in these areas.  Most of the West side does not have POS requirements or rental inspections.  Parma, Brooklyn, Cleveland (44111,44109,44135) could all be decent options for this. 

Hi Tom,

These areas you've mentioned all have Point of Sale and rental registration/occupancy licensing requirements that can be pretty tricky to navigate (and will often require a lot of cash up front to be held into escrow/pay for repairs).  Make sure you find an agent who knows the procedures for each of these municipalities well, otherwise the process will be a nightmare.

Best of luck!