All Forum Posts by: Robert Matelski

It depends on the circumstances, but usually I buy as-is and do not request any specific repairs. In some cases I will write my offer subject to the seller making the property POS (point of sale) compliant, meaning clearing any [usually petty] violations the city may have called out, in jurisdictions where POS is required at transfer (e.g. many suburbs of Cleveland).

I currently own 6 SFRs, 1 duplex, and 2 condos. I never had an inspection contingency on any of these purchase offers. If you are a serious buyer, and you are thorough in your physical analysis of the property, you can avoid the inspection, saving yourself $$$ and making your offer MUCH stronger in the process. Yes, it takes some knowledge to understand what to look for in doing your own "inspection" before you write the offer, but it really is not rocket science... in time, and with enough experience, any layperson (i.e. non-construction professional) can learn enough to do his or her own legwork upfront.

 "Losing population" at such a micro-scale (i.e. down to the specific suburb) can be misleading if you don't consider why this is happening. While I have not dug deeply into census data to comprehensively prove my hypothesis, a quick drive around a place like Mayfield Heights or Gates Mills leads me to believe that there is not a decline in the housing stock (i.e. houses have not been abandoned or demolished)... so one must scratch his head and say "why is the population declining??"  It's most likely due to changing household compositions. So the typical Gates Mills or Mayfield Heights house that 20 or 30 years ago had husband, wife, and 2-3 kids in it is now occupied by either that same husband and wife (sans kids), or by another, more down-scaled, household (perhaps consisting of divorced mom and 1-2 kids). The days of nearly every suburban house having about 5 people living in it seem to be gone... so it makes sense that population numbers are lower in these suburbs, particularly the ones that trend more middle class to upper middle class.

If you are just starting out, it is best to SAVE SAVE SAVE. Save cash until you have enough for a down payment. Be as frugal as you can, and see what you can cut out from your current expenses, and/or increase your income however you can (work a side job, drive for lyft, whatever you can do). Most people can easily save hundreds, if not thousands, per month by getting serious about their personal consumption spending (everything from phone bills to car expenses to food to subscription services). Once you have about $15K saved in the bank you will be in a decent position to finance a starter Cleveland-area rental property (through a bank, with about 25% down) and still have a little cash cushion, as long as you have halfway decent credit.

I'm in Contra Costa County and open to networking. Though I am in Western Contra Costa County... so not super close to everyone else who is posting I guess.

LOL, quit copyin' my answers bro!! #middleschoolflashback 

To buy a property and have it actually be habitable you will spend considerably more than $500. Yes, there are occasionally properties on the market for $500... but they are essentially worth a negative amount, because in many (most really) cases in such bad shape that you will spend more than the property would ever realistically be worth in order to get the property habitable. If you buy a property for $500 in a very rough area, put $45,000 into it, and find it is then worth $30,000, have you come out ahead?

@Daniel Masarick, Keep saving for now.

If you can't use hard data such as crime rates, income levels, homeownership rate, education level, school quality, etc. to fairly decide to what extent an area will be desirable for tenants (and therefore what its grade will be for the property owners), what data can you use then?!?! At least the pic they used for that CityLab article has a cat in it. #Caturday

I own several properties in the Cleveland area. It seems to be on the upswing in general. Solid market for good returns in my opinion.

@Kevin Dubina, @Ed Moran, @Alex S., thanks for the data points.