All Forum Posts by: Rich Rodman

I have a few Lakewood multifamilies and we maximize rent and keep costs low to make the numbers work. If you buy a 3br West of Bunts with a fenced in backyard, you can charge $1,200 for the unit and another $25 for pet rent. There are a number of small things you can do to increase the overall revenue of the property. You still have to ensure you're buying undervalued properties to make the numbers work, but the deals exist. 

The tenant in the bottom unit of my duplex has complained three times about the upstairs neighbor. They have their TV up too loud, kids running around, up late at night, shaking the house, etc. 

I've warned the top tenant twice now about keeping the volume down and it doesn't seem to stop. The bottom tenant texted me this afternoon telling me the problem is still continuing and asked what his options are. 

I'd like to solve this problem without any evictions or unnecessary expenses. Any thoughts?

@Ryan Evans Thanks for the feedback! I love the idea of asking neighbors - I'll ask my property manager to do that this week. 

I completely understand on the timing of the month and year, that's what I was afraid of the answer being!

I'm renting a duplex in Cleveland (Lakewood) and having a hard time finding tenants for some reason. It's a nice house with a fenced in backyard and balcony very close to the main strip. I've had it on Zillow, Trulia, Hotpads, Craigslist, and Facebook for 22 days and have showed it about 8 times. A few people liked it but are not in line with a Nov 1 move in date. 

Any recommendations on where I can find tenants? 

Thanks for the advice all. This is great to know and I’ll be prepared when this happens ;).

Thanks, @Michael Garofalo  

What you're saying is that as long as my properties properly cash flow, a downturn shouldn't hurt things too much outside of an increased vacancy rate?

Hey BP community! I own a few units in Cleveland and live in San Francisco. I was rather young for the 2008 crash so I don’t have the hands on experience in a down market. What is the realistic downside of a market crash when you own Real Estate? Is it that your tenant might lose their job and not be able to pay rent? Is it that you have a likelihood of losing your job personally (although I don’t know how this would affect existing real estate investments negatively)? May be a negative question but I’m curious how this plays out.

Your link goes to your property mgmt page. Did you have a link to review what work needs to be done on the property?

Hi Clinton, I moved to SF from NY a bit ago and invest in multifamilies in Cleveland. Happy to chat if you want!

Hi Whitney,

What part of Cleveland are you investing in (cross streets would be best)? The Cleveland market can vary from city to city and neighborhood to neighborhood so it's hard to say without knowing the exact location and tenants you'd attract. In West Lakewood, your value-add opportunities are much different than in Edgewater, Rocky River, or Ohio City. 

Generally speaking, if you can add an extra bedroom or bathroom, that should increase the value a bit pending on the area. The question you need to answer is "Will what I'm about to do to the house make people pay more rent?". Sometimes a new kitchen will do that, other times it won't move the needle on rent.