All Forum Posts by: Kristopher Hanks

@Tim Bradley

This is a great story....since no one was injured. Thank you for sharing the pictures. 

@James Wise

All I can do is laugh. I can't take this seriously. Can you tell Valerie to email me copies of all the maintenance requests that come in for my property in the future? I could use the comedic relief! LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!

@Erik Schneider

I don't know if they are notorious for it. I believe the standard is anytime they are approved for a voucher for a new home when they move, they go through the financial review process. Which in my case she had to get approval from CMHA before she moved into my property. All the inspections had to be completed before the voucher for my house was finalized. 

@Dulcey Barr

Yes. I have shared it in other posts and in my profile. I have not been shy about telling the truth about my investing experiences, including failures. 

The short version: CMHA approved one of my properties for a voucher holder. Rent $1,063 per month. Voucher holder's portion was $97 per month. Voucher holder: single mother with three sons all living with her, no father involvement or financial support. She was a part time maid, making about $15,000 gross per year. 2 months into a 12 month contract with CMHA, they conduct a "financial review" on my tenant and decide, before talking to her, that she makes a sufficient amount of money to pay $687 per month and they reduced their portion to $367 per month, down from $966. That made her portion more than half of her gross annual salary. Her financial situation did not change in 2 months. It was the same as when she was approved for the voucher. She moved out because she could not afford the rent increase.  

@Erik Schneider

I have a small amount of experience investing there. I had a bad experience working with CMHA. I personally may never allow section 8 in one of my properties again. It was not on the tenant side, it was on the Gov't side of the house. They basically did not live up to their end of the contract and cost me thousands in rental income. I have heard positive stories about section 8 there, but I can only speak to mine. 

@Alexander Hernandez

My advice to you is be very careful who you hire to manage the property. That alone could make or break you. 

I tried to hire cheap and it cost me dearly. I would have been way ahead of the game by looking at a more experienced and expensive management company. I will not get long winded with the details because those details are already documented in other threads on this site. 

Disclaimer: I just recently retained the services of Holton-Wise property management for one SFH in Cleveland. I can not give a review because this relationship is brand new.

Long story short, hire a company like Holton-Wise @James Wise or some of the other larger companies that have been managing properties in the Cuyahoga County area and have the experience dealing with the tenants that live in this area. Also make sure they are experienced with handling evictions, because they are inevitable in the Cleveland area. Reduce your risks for headaches that could have been prevented by putting people in place that will take care of these issues for you. If you do that then you can focus on the investing side of the business. 

@Paul Sandhu

I'm dying right now! LoL 

@Jay S.

I have owned homes in that zip code. I currently own one in the 44120. @James Wise is very knowledgeable about the Cleveland area and he is correct. It is in ghetto territory and it is a difficult area to manage rentals in. You must be prepared to constantly deal with problems and problematic tenants. The people that are willing to rent in these areas do so because they have to. The likely hood of your property being destroyed is much higher if you buy a home in that area. Some also don't think they have to actually pay the rent when they live in your home, because you are the rich guy and they are not so they think rent payments are optional. 

If you can handle savagery, go for it. 

Regardless of what the article says, I am one that does not take advantage of the poor. I have tenants that use public assistance, and work. I respect that. It seems most do not work when they get public assistance. Just my point of view, not a statistical fact that I know of. 

Their rent is $75 per month below the average rent of a similar house within a 1.5 mile radius, and my house was renovated before they moved in. I agree with those that have said that a service is being provided, and it needs to be paid for. A lot of low income families receive some kind of public assistance. So really, is it them that is being taken advantage of, or is the tax payer being taken advantage of? 

@Linda D.

The same tenants have been in the property since the reno completion. They are a nice family. They pay their rent, and report issues with the house right away. I am very fortunate to have found this family considering the area the house is in. They moved into the house in the first quarter of 2017, and I am planning a trip to Cleveland in April to do an inspection and to sit down with the tenants to discuss and sign a new lease.