All Forum Posts by: John Tilstra

I have been looking for properties in the Dayton, OH area and am struggling to find places that cash flow. The primary culprit seems to be the high property insurance rates. Obviously the solution is simple: find better deals. But as I look for better deals, I'd like to sanity check that I'm not way over/under calculating something. The following property is a duplex in Vandalia. I've used a 5% vacancy, with estimates of 10% for maintenance, CAPEX, and management. Again, the fly in the ointment crushing cash flow is the projected $4800 tax bill. Welcome anybody's insights on the best way to find deals that cash flow a little better (buy all cash? go C class? multi-family? etc.) Thanks!

We have a duplex in Hixson, which we like quite a bit.  We also have a place in East Ridge, which is also a solid B class community with steady renters.  I would probably stay out of downtown and north Chattanooga.  That place can only boom for so long.  Meanwhile, communities like Ooltewah, Collegedale, Hixson, East Ridge, and Redbank are all solid for good tenants.  We have been managing ourselves.  Though that may change in the near term.  If we find a good manager, we'll let you know!  Be in touch.

Welcome to BP.  My wife and I are buy and hold investors in Chattanooga as well.  We live out of the country, but would be happy to share our experience investing in Chattanooga if you have any questions.

John

@Bryan C., Looks like we both have APO, AE addresses!  My wife and I live in Saudi Arabia.  So, we're sort of flying this thing by remote control!  It limits our ability to do flips, and we're more reliant on having a good team, but we're still trying to invest in good buy-and-hold rentals until we're back in the states full time and can become even more active.  The Dayton area certainly looks promising.  With my brother-in-law there, I think that is where we will likely focus the majority of our efforts moving forward.

@Carly Young, @Mayank S., @Darrin Carey, @Christina Carey, and @Ken Faler,

Thank you guys so much for your quick and thoughtful responses!  I've flagged this post for my brother-in-law, and he's going to try to attend the next Dayton Meetup.  I'll reach out to you guys individually and would certainly like to chat more as we move toward investing in the Dayton and surrounding markets.  Thanks again!

John

BPers,

My wife and I live overseas.  We're originally from Tenessee, and that's where we own three properties.  My brother-in-law, who has managed our properties in Chattanooga, TN recently moved to Dayton, Ohio.

We are therefore considering shifting the focus of our next few deals from TN to Dayton.  But, we know very little about the market in Dayton.  

We are looking for single family or multi-unit buy-and-hold rental properties.  We have traditional lending and some cash to work with.  

I'd be open to any collective wisdom or observations about the market: what are the growing B-class areas?  are there neighborhoods to avoid?  neighborhoods to seek out?  i know people have differing thoughts on the 2% "rule", but what range of returns are people getting without investing in class D real estate?  

In addition, if folks have any good realtors that they would recommend for the area, I'd certainly be interested.

Thanks so much for any thoughts and wisdom.  And go Cavs! (tough loss to GS, though...)

Best,

John

My wife and I are young real estate investors.  We own two duplexes and three parcels of undeveloped land in Chattanooga.  We also own a single family property in Knoxville, TN.  

We in the process of establishing our LLC, building our team (lawyer, accountant, contractor, etc.), and growing our real estate portfolio.

We'd love to network with other investors in the Chattanooga area.