All Forum Posts by: Robert Matelski

Hey Cam, welcome to the site. I am also originally from Cleveland, and currently I live in the Bay Area (occasionally I feel tempted to move back to Cleveland as you did... but then I remember what January can be like and that notion is quickly extinguished). Despite the distance, I have been investing in the Cleveland area for years. I currently own 8 rental properties there.

I've gathered a ton of information on investing in the Cleveland area, and would be happy to share it with you if you are interested. It includes, among other things, a comprehensive map of the Cleveland area, grading each tract from A+ down to F, with a consistent, objective and transparent methodology using publicly available data rather than a broad-brush subjective approach. As a Cleveland native you already probably realize that Cleveland and its suburbs have a huge range of quality when it comes to neighborhoods, and this can be one of the [many] things that makes or breaks you. Feel free to add me as a connection and drop me a private message if you'd like to see this info. 

As Brian said, the Columbus guys will peddle their wares to you on here hard and heavy (they already have started, it seems), as they seem to equate population growth [driven largely by annexation literally all the way out to corn fields] as the end all be all and ignore legitimately important things such as per capita GDP, or a comprehensive view of the full MSA. (It's exceptionally hilarious when they pull out the "Columbus is now a bigger city than San Francisco!" card.) And most likely Mr. Wise will show up at some point to proudly tell you about his map too. But that said, keep in mind that investing in real estate is only partly investing in a location and an asset per se, and is largely about running your own business... the results you will experience will stem more from how you run your business than anything else in most cases... so get scrappy and become your own expert, and DEFINITELY be careful about whose advice you trust, especially if the advice-giver stands to make a buck off of you!

I have been working with David Keller at Keller National for most of my Cleveland-area rental properties for the past few years. I like him a lot. I even referred my grandma to him for her insurance needs (no joke). David is a competent and professional young go-getter, and is actually based in Cleveland Heights on Mayfield Road. Google "Keller National Cleveland Heights" and you should find him easily enough. If for some reason you can't find him, send me a private message and I can provide you the contact info.

I don't blame you for being frustrated, Pam. You should probably start with making sure you have an online Cleveland Water account (http://www.clevelandwater.com/), and take a look at the detailed usage. If there is steady usage all day every day, then there is likely a leak that needs to be addressed. If there are periods of little or no usage and then big spikes, however, then you've just got a heavy-water-using tenant on your hands... lots of laundry, outlandishly long showers, etc. Though $200+ per unit is not super common, it's also not unheard of... especially with lower income tenants. I have tenants ranging from extremely low income (section 8) to 6-figure-earning professionals... and the low income tenants' usage is nearly always the highest whereas the high earners' usage is nearly always the lowest. If you've got multi-family properties where there's a single meter, then you're pretty much just stuck with the situation for now. If you've got SFRs, however, then you might consider (at least for future leases) billing back to tenants (assuming your properties are in areas that are C grade or better). I actually have more I can share on the topic of utilities in the Cleveland market if you're interested... if so just shoot me a DM.

Same here. Have been investing in Cleveland since before investing in Cleveland was cool... and I get tons of messages and colleague requests on BP, Facebook, etc. I actually have boiler plate text that I usually just copy and paste each time, giving people a quick intro and the link to my Cleveland-focused website and YouTube channel... then it basically concludes with “after digging into all of this let me know what specific questions you have”... 9 times out of 10 they say “oh, ok I will dig into it!” and then I never hear from them again! It has become a good way to filter those who have legit Intentions and specific questions from those who are just dabbling! 

Congrats on securing the property! I have most of my Cleveland area rentals insured by Foremost, through Keller National in Cleveland Hts. The owner of the agency is David Keller and I have found him to be a very professional and competent go-getter. You can google Keller National... or shoot me a PM if you can’t find it or need more info. 

It means it has two 5-room units. Literally tens of thousands of very similar duplexes were built in Cleveland and the inner-ring suburbs the two decades preceding the Great Depression, typically with two full-floor flats of nearly identical layouts on the first and second floors. A typical "5 by 5" will have a living room, dining room, kitchen, two bedrooms and a full bath in each unit, and there is almost always a shared basement that houses mechanicals and can be used for storage. Generally speaking, these pre-Depression-era "5 by 5" duplexes were actually really well built, so as long as they've been maintained properly over the years they will still be solid (and offer a lot of charm if original built-in cabinets, trim, etc. are still intact).

I have managed to get solid returns on my investments in the Bay Area as well, of course. Timing is key though... and returns over the past 2 years in Cleveland seem to have outpaced returns in the Bay Area over that same period. 

I could not agree more, Tom. That's why I still invest there, despite having moved away almost 20 years ago. The Great Recession took such a huge toll on the Cleveland market that it created a pretty much endless opportunity for investors to add value to the community AND rake in hefty gains at the same time. I am very glad I was able to get in when I did!

It does not cost very much, isn't that hard to do, and I always encourage anyone who is an owner-occupant in Cleveland to pursue it if there's a land-bank-owned vacant lot next to their home. I have seen many homeowners have success with it, and allows them to have a much bigger yard for themselves. That said, from an out of state/country investor perspective however, there is not a ton of benefit to pursuing it -- it won't really fundamentally change your revenue potential in most cases... only increase your costs (property taxes and landscaping maintenance) and your liability, plus you're not all that likely to get approved as a non-owner-occupant anyhow, especially if you have no material ties to Cleveland other than you own real estate there. If you might like to someday develop the lot (i.e., build a new house on it), and that is your primary motivator for buying it then maybe it makes sense to try to pursue the side lot program. In any event, here is info on the program: 

http://www.cuyahogalandbank.org/sideYard.php

 

I would actually probably pay her the $500 she is asking for. It's not a huge sum of money in the big picture (and is a reasonable amount to spend on movers and such), and it will build tremendous goodwill -- especially since you're displacing her and moving into the unit, she is more likely to leave it nice and clean and in good repair if she feels respected and treated nicely on the way out. Unless you're planning on doing a gut redo of the unit anyhow (which I would guess is not the case), it's much to your benefit to have her leave the place in great condition and sparkling clean rather than leaving a huge mess and denting up the doors and walls as she is moving her furniture and stuff on the way out. I'm generally a fan of doing what you can to treat people well if if you don't legally have to.