All Forum Posts by: Michael Wentzel

We have properties in Pueblo, Colorado and in NE Ohio. The property taxes seem to be higher in Ohio and we have had trouble finding good property management. But the purchase price to rent ratios are good and we don't seem to have a problem keeping them rented. It is a good place for new investors to learn and make mistakes with smaller amounts of cash.

Mike

@Terry Landon

I've also on my third property manager in the Akron market. Send me a PM and I can tell you one you should not use and two that you might use with caution.

Mike

Thank you all for the great feedback. It seems like I'm in the right ballpark for price. This is a CPA recommened by my commercial banker in Colorado, so I believe he and his firm will be professional.

Mike

We have 19 properties in a Colorado LLC and 19 properties in an Ohio LLC. We have a property manager in Colorado and another one in Ohio that give us pretty good annual reports. I believe we have approached 5 CPA's or tax preparers in Colorado. Some are too busy and don't want the work. One estimated over $5000 after looking at previous returns. Finally the last one quoted us $100 per property for the the first year and maybe less in future years after they are setup in the system.

Is that reasonable? $100 per property for tax prep work?

Mike

We have 19 properties in Pueblo and a great team on the ground. We started buying in 2013 and stopped buying in 2016 when the prices started going up. We love the town and the rental business for us has been great. At the current price points, I would be more cautious, but I assume there are still a few deals around if you can be creative about it.

Mike

@Jack Smith

Hello Jack. 

I'm purchasing in rental properties in and around Akron. You mentioned you might be selling some this year that have been fully depreciated. We are eager to add more units to our portfolio and might be a good buyer for you. We would also like to join in on one of your monthly online meetings for out-of-state investors. Could you send us more information in a PM or email?

Mike

@Brooke Stewart

We have been using Keystone Property Management since we started buying in Pueblo in 2013. We highly recommend them.

Mike

@Paul W Brunner

I have found a couple of leads. I will send you a message.

Mike

I'm still learning my areas of town in Canton. If someone has a quick guide put together, I would love to see it.

We use our property manager out of Akron to manage all our properties in northeast Ohio. We have lived overseas for most of the last 20 years, so we have had to learn how to work through our team on the ground. If you have a good team, it works fine. The distance keeps me out of the any of the work I might be tempted to do if I lived nearby. So that is one positive. If I was living in the community, I probably wouldn't have been forced to build good teams and systems. 

Mike

Like most of the others have stated, there are many variables. As we brought more properties and loans on, our lenders would often raise the number they wanted in our reserve account. So it was good to have the pressure. Otherwise I probably would have thrown all my cash at the next deal. Having credit lines may also reduce you need for cash reserves. You can us credit lines (or credit cards) to a major capital expenditure or a big flucuation in your cashflow. However, I have never had a lender ask me about much available credit I have. They have always asked about reserves.

Mike