All Forum Posts by: John Koster

@Charlene Isoh. MB Financial

For my duplexes I have been averaging $80 for water and $120 for Sewer.

Nice job, Joe!   Don't take the "what ifs" and "what abouts" so seriously.   If you announced you won the lottery, someone would inevitably bring up the high taxes.   It is human nature.  

Nice.

Just a reminder - tomorrow (9/5) is the night.  

See you there!

JK

@Michael Lewis Supposedly values will be reassessed county wide this fall, so definitely count on your taxes rising.   However, it has been my experience that assessed values tend to lag behind retail value and I have overestimated my property taxes in Cleveland each time I have purchased, so it might not be too drastic a raise.

Just a heads up, I am organizing a meet up for LA investors interested and/or actively investing in the Cleveland, OH market.

Wednesday 9/5/18 at 7:30PM

EP/LP Rooftop Bar

603 N. La Cienega Blvd

West Hollywood, CA 90069

The event will just be a meet and greet of like minded folks. No Guru presentations, just an informal gathering. Conversations will not be only limited to Cleveland, so if you know another investor who might also be interested in networking, feel free to let them know about the event.

If you plan on going, please make sure to hit the "going" tab under the upcoming event listing on the main page.

Hope to see you there!

John

I have a recommendation as well.  Are we really not allowed to refer people openly on this forum?  Seems a bit reactionary to me.

A networking event for LA investors interested and/or actively investing in the Cleveland, Ohio market.   This is just a "meet & greet" cocktail hour.  No presentations will be given.  See you there!

Leonard,

That's rough.  35% seems incredibly high.  Property management?

I have two duplexes in Cleveland.  One in Old Brooklyn and one on W133rd in the Jefferson area.   

The one I bought in Old Brooklyn last year had the bottom unit vacate in the second month and then the upper unit had an eviction the next month.  After what I would consider a very slow turnover of both apartments, I had a total of 5 months of vacancy (2 months for one, 3 for the other).    This was my worst performing year for any property and it ended up with a 20.83% vacancy for the year (5 vacant months out of a possible 24 billable months).   

My other duplex has had a total of 7 months of vacancy in 4 years & 8 months (112 billable months).   6.25% Vacancy. 

From what I have heard from the investors that I know, there will always be a few outlier years of bad luck and a few perfect years where nothing goes wrong.   The fact that you have such high vacancy spread over a few properties in different neighborhoods is puzzling.     Old Brooklyn and Shaker Heights are not war zones.  If you're offering market rent and keeping the places up, there is no reason why you shouldn't be below 10% vacancy.

Good Luck.