All Forum Posts by: My Le

Hi My Le- keep your head up! The market right now is quite challenging - it sounds like you need an agent that will fight for you to make sure your offer is placed correctly in order to get it accepted. 

I am an investor focused agent here in Cleveland and have helped many out of state investors get their offers accepted. My team also frequently has off-market investment properties come available that have limited competition.

Just DM'd you My.

It sounds like you need to organize your portfolio and utilize a good property manager! That would be the best 1st step. Let's assess what you have and give you the options of what might be the plausible routes to take. 

It might be of interest to utilize a 1031 exchange to maybe divert your assets into something that may be lower risk for you or holding and proper management might be the ticket. High caps often come with volatility and making sure you have the proper team to lean on is so important!

 It depends where you are.  I have properties in one area where cash flow is going to exceed appreciation and in another area it is the reverse.  In part that is because in one area house prices haven't gone up a lot in 15 years and in the other, they sky rocketed.

 Cleveland is very tough in terms of finding good PM's and contractors. There are a lot of fly by night operations up there due to some of the neighborhoods scaring away good property managers.

You could also 1031 exchange into a slighly worse cash flowing market but a much stabler economy and population growth such as in Columbus. Or could even 1031 those into the A/B areas in Cleveland and attract better contractors and property managers.

Have you networked with any investors there who are doing the same thing as you?

While the return is important, so too is the type of property you buy. If you focus too much on a high rate of return, on paper you will be attracted to cheap houses that often attract not so great tenants, require more management and more money.

Hi My-

Congratulations on moving the ball on your real estate investing goals.

If I were investing out of state, I would start with finding the right property management company first. They are an important part of the team and make real estate investing as "passive" as it gets. Also, a good property manager will keep tenants happy which reduces turnover in tenants and means more return overall for your investment. The property manager will also likely know good real estate agents to work with in the area and if any of the property owners they manage properties for are thinking of selling. They also should have a team of contractors to keep you from getting scammed and should be able to get your property rehabbed if needed after purchasing. 

Even in the areas I invest in Michigan within an hours drive of Ann Arbor, I use property managers and don't buy a new property without the property manager weighing in on market rent and the area the property is located.

Basically, a good property manager is worth their weight in gold and you can find them by asking on Facebook groups for real estate investors in the area or asking local real estate investment groups.

To Your Success! 

 Cleveland is very tough in terms of finding good PM's and contractors. There are a lot of fly by night operations up there due to some of the neighborhoods scaring away good property managers.

You could also 1031 exchange into a slighly worse cash flowing market but a much stabler economy and population growth such as in Columbus. Or could even 1031 those into the A/B areas in Cleveland and attract better contractors and property managers.

Have you networked with any investors there who are doing the same thing as you?