All Forum Posts by: Slocomb Reed

Y'all are bringing up some great points and great parts of town for sure! I've lived in Northside since 2018 and my office hack is right on Hamilton Ave less than a block away from Sidewinder.

Two main comments on the neighborhoods that have been posted here, I'm going to list them under a couple labels that I think will help people understand what's happening in each of those areas right now. Then I have one to add that may surprise y'all!

Later-Stage Gentrification, Prices Already Way Up From 3-5 Years Ago (and climbing): Deerpark/Silverton, Madisonville, Northside, East Walnut Hills

Major Growth But Be Careful Which Section Of The Neighborhood You're In: College Hill, Norwood, Evanston, Walnut Hills

NB I love North Avondale but there's a definite divide between the haves and the have nots there and it isn't changing any time soon. That said, Avondale proper is seeing a lot of redevelopment around the hospitals and the newer developments are pulling rents that nobody would have imagined five years ago.

But my pick for the neighborhood nobody is talking about:  Camp Washington!

It has the trendy 19th-century architecture, proximity to the downtown and uptown major employment centers, the arts crowd has moved in, and a couple major apartment redevelopments are full of white-collar Millennial and Gen Z renters paying a premium for loft apartments. That said, you still need to be on the right street or the right block to see big returns right now, but five years from now we'll be having a very different conversation about Camp Washington.

I'd love to continue this conversation about any of the neighborhoods mentions, please tag me in your reply if you'd like to hear more about what I'm seeing in any of these places!

@Raghavendra Kandukuri your profile says you're in Copley. I'm a house hacker personally (on my 2nd hack 8 years in), I love the investing strategy, and I hope it suits your lifestyle!

Whether or not house hacking is for you, I'd recommend focusing heavily on the Akron and Cleveland areas. You likely have a better understanding of your local market(s) than others and you'll be able to ge ton site and see things with your own eyes more easily there than anywhere else.

I invest in Cincinnati because I live here. Great for cash flow, but I'm an owner operator and I put a high priority on my ability to oversee the day-to-day of my own investments!

Cheers and good luck in your investing journey!

@Alec Fenner since you're thinking about a 0% down VA loan, is it safe to assume you were planning to house hack the 4-unit? If so, those do exist, but we've all had to adjust our price expectations since COVID. Also it appears that the demand for 2-4 unit properties is still strong in spite of the higher interest rates, right now my team is still getting lots of offers and selling multis above list price.

Two things. First, the silver lining is that rent rates have risen with property values so there's still cash flow to be had on-market. Second, I don't know about the current subdivisions that builders are putting in, but there's been a trend in higher-demand areas for builders to build side-by-side duplexes on the less desirable streets of their neighborhoods (backs up to highway, etc.) and that may be an option fr you if you can find it.

@Chrissi B. I'm mostly reiterating other responses here, but here's my take.

You CAN find houses on-market under 100k in any of the cities you referenced, but this price point comes with a lot of operational difficulties. Cash flow will likely not be consistent, it'll be great in the good times and you'll be in the red pretty significantly with rough tenant turnovers and other likely issues.

Advice: Make sure you have a quality property manager who agrees to take on the property you're interested in BEFORE you end your due diligence period. That way you at least know that you have a local professional who's got your back when times get tough.

Hey @Sam McCormack! Bigger Pockets was huge for me in scaling up my sales agent business and my investing when I was new to both at basically the same time several years ago. Being active in the BP forums both to share and to learn is a great resource for growth.

Just now getting back into the routine myself to share what I've learned since I was last active here. Would love to connect and see where we can add value to each other!

Investment Info:

Large multi-family (5+ units) buy & hold investment.

26-unit apartment building in the Cincinnati neighborhood of Mt Washington. Purchased with value add potential and the ability to increase all rents by an average of over $100/mo.

@Jonathan Farber the most important thing right now is to lock in your interest rate for as long as possible. The 4plexes will qualify for 30-year fixed loans, assuming you qualify as a residential borrower. 5+ unit properties require commercial loans, the interest rate is typically only fixed for 3-10 years, make sure you're on the longer end of that. With the historically low interest rates we're seeing now and the potential turbulence that may come in the next couple years, savvy investors are making sure they can ride out any potential storms without having to refinance at a time when the loan market is way less favorable.

Best advice is to get a good commercial and residential lender (likely different people) in each market you're looking at and pick their brains about what's possible right now. Best of luck!

Welcome @Archie Glenn Ceno! Looking forward to working with you!

@Nick Peters that's an excellent post for BP newbies. I wish someone sent that to me when I joined!

Just accepted! Welcome @Ramil Torres!

Very much looking forward to this! I'm currently waffling back and forth on whether or not to stay in the short-term-rental game since my long-term rental portfolio is growing and taking more of my focus. It'll be a great interview!