All Forum Posts by: Slocomb Reed

Via Zoom

@James Morrissey looking forward to it! Our meetup is virtual for now, but still the last Tuesday of every month.

@Marlen Weber posts my favorite Cincy area meetup on BP every month. You can also check it out at bestevercincy.com

I'm on the tail end of a 24-unit BRRRR and I have a lot of vacant units to fill, most of them already renovated. Solidly C area. I've had a rental listing up on that property very consistently for the past few months and I'm seeing a general uptick in inquiries since the shelter-in-place order went into effect on March 24th. I think there are three factors at play here:

1) Many renters have decided to put off their move until after the pandemic has passed (they inquire, I follow up, they've decided to wait). While that's is taking people out of the prospective tenant pool...

2) A boatload of people, primarily in their 20s, have decided that their current living situation is untenable in a quarantine situation (not to mention it just got extended for another month). My property is in a C area, the situation will be different in better and worse neighborhoods, but I'm seeing a lot of people who need to get away from a roommate/flatmate or who've decided to live with their parents while working full-time to save money, until now. This has increased demand for my renovated C-class 1-beds with relatively high rents, even factoring for the people taking themselves out of the market for now.

3) With Ohio being a more proactive state in responding to the health crisis, frankly we haven't felt much of the impact of COVID-19 in Cincinnati (Hamilton County) yet and people aren't taking the quarantine as seriously as people in other parts of the state, much less the country.

I'm grateful to be considered an essential business (Realtor/property management), but right now it feels like the vast majority of Cincinnatians are taking every excuse to continue with business-as-usual.

@George Emmons is great I recommend him as well. 

I know he's picky about what properties he'll take on though (prefers eastern Cincy, closer to his office). Definitely reach out to him first, but if he can't take on your project, let me know and I'd be happy to help you find someone else.

@Jeffrey Albaum congrats on your first deal!

Something to keep in mind when comparing single family rentals to small multis in Cincinnati is the difference in utility expenses. The market standard is that SFR tenants pay all utilities, including water and gas. Multi tenants are almost never responsible for the water bill and, depending on the neighborhood and the HVAC systems in the building, the owner may be on the hook for paying to heat the building as well (Is is one central system like a boiler, or separate like forced air or electric heat? Is there more than one gas meter?)

Hope this helps!

The Zillow iBuyer program isn't designed to buy houses for a profit. It's designed to generate referral income for Zillow from the partner agents and teams that Zillow sends its iBuyer leads to. Very similar to their Premier Agent system.

Zillow's instant offer is verified by a real estate agent who meets the seller and walks the property to verify condition (Zillow also does inspections to drop their price further if Seller accepts it) but the agent's goal is to take a listing by showing the seller how much more money they'd net, NOT to talk them into taking Zillow's offer. Agent then pays Zillow a hefty referral fee and they win without having to put out their capital to buy the place. This is how it's playing out in Cincinnati at least.

And their iBuyer program was only suspended due to the market shift. Even if they don't bring it back, there will be some other new way to generate revenue from making referrals to partner agents.

@Susan Tan I'm with @Lamont Marable on this one. If you're planning to hire a professional property manager for this duplex, it's the PM's responsibility to get the landscaping taken care of. They should already have vendors in place for this and they can let you know in advance what the costs will be. 

You also shouldn't need to contact the tenants directly if you have a PM. If you need PM recommendations, let me know.

@Marqus Freeman and @Evan Polaski right now I consider Section 8 tenants to be a hedge against high unemployment. CMHA (only local HUD voucher vendor) can be very difficult to deal with and you need the right professional property manager (I can recommend) but there are good deals on the open market right now if you're considering Section 8. Happy to connect and discuss further!

@Assaf Kehati I'm also a local Cincy investor. Our neighborhoods, even the best and the worst of them, can vary greatly from street to street. I highly suggest you find a local resource you can rely on when making investing decisions here. @Evan Polaski would be great, I'd be happy to help as well. PM me and we can take it from there.