All Forum Posts by: Steven Cathcart

@Gardy Saturne Dump the PM and find a new one. Moving into your rental and house hacking/self managing it might sound like a good idea, but that is definitely not setting your rental business up for success in the future. Imagine if every property you buy required you to move into it so it makes money. You're not an investor at that point; you just gave yourself another job. And if both tenants aren't paying rent, its doubtful the property is in an area in which you would enjoy living (just a guess). Learn from this mistake, we all make them, and create better systems so the next one you buy won't have the same issues. Good luck!

Flip the contract, and use the money to buy something you're more certain you want to keep.

Hi @Eviatar Maman, welcome to the Cleveland market. I'll add that you'll need to familiarize yourself with the City of Cleveland's lead safe program. For non-owner occupied rentals, the city is requiring owners to certify there are no harmful levels of lead in the home. There are several good certified lead inspectors in our area as well as mitigation companies. Just another potential hurdle to be aware of when you're analyzing a deal. Note this is just in the city of Cleveland; the suburbs don't have this requirement. But beware of those pesky point of sale inspections as @Patrick Drury mentioned.

Now you've got to add Cartographer to your resume! Nice work buddy!

Investment Info:

Large multi-family (5+ units) commercial investment investment.

Purchase price: $405,000
Cash invested: $12,000

Purchased a brick six-unit in the A-grade Cleveland suburb of Rocky River. The deal was found off market through a local connection. Purchase price was $405,000, plus a fee paid out at closing to the individual who sourced the deal. Purchased using private money lender; we will be refinancing with a traditional commercial lender.
There are 4 two-bedroom units and 2 one-bedroom units. Owners pay water & sewer, tenants pay gas & electric.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

The property is located in one of the best suburbs on Cleveland's west side. Building is in great shape and tenant pool in that area is favorable.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

This was an off-market transaction sourced by another local investor who collected a fee at closing.

How did you finance this deal?

Private money for the purchase. Refinancing to traditional commercial loan.

Investment Info:

Large multi-family (5+ units) commercial investment investment.

Purchase price: $405,000
Cash invested: $12,000

Purchased a brick six-unit in the A-grade Cleveland suburb of Rocky River. The deal was found off market through a local connection. Purchase price was $405,000, plus a fee paid out at closing to the individual who sourced the deal. Purchased using private money lender; we will be refinancing with a traditional commercial lender.
The building contains 4 two-bedroom units and 2 one-bedroom. Units are in great shape, many tenants are long term. Coin-op laundry in the basement, off street parking. We pay water & sewer, tenants pay gas and electric (individual furnaces).
This property is in an A-class area. Strong rental pool, good tenants, and the value of the property should steadily increase.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

The property is located in one of the best suburbs on Cleveland's west side. Building is in great shape and tenant pool in that area is favorable.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

This was an off-market transaction sourced by another local investor who collected a fee at closing.

How did you finance this deal?

Private money for the purchase. Refinancing to traditional commercial loan.

To answer your questions: Yes. Yes. Sometimes months out. Not if you are professional and do good work.

Hi @Austin Johnston, Berea is great market of Cleveland. Stable employers in and near the area, close to major freeways and the Cleveland Metroparks and a nice historic downtown area with great parks. I lived there a couple of years ago and know the area well. DM me if you would like to talk further.

We use Buildium software for management and rent collection. Tenants can pay with electronic transfer or credit card (of which they get charged a fee). We also have tenants who use checks & money orders that they leave in a dropbox at the property.

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) fix & flip investment in Cleveland.

Purchase price: $50,000
Cash invested: $25,000

Obtained a great duplex off-market in the Old Brooklyn neighborhood with my business partner. Tenants in both units, but one tenant (who was not good according to previous owner) was evicted before we took ownership. In the process now of making units rent-ready, and will list on the market in the coming weeks.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Hot neighborhood in the Cleveland-city limits. Will require minimum cash to get ready for the market.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Response to a mailer. Negotiated with the owner that if bad tenant was remaining when we took ownership, we'd purchase for $48,000. If she could get him out prior, we would buy for $50,000. She got him out, which is what we were hoping for!

How did you finance this deal?

Cash. I put in half, my business partner put in half.

How did you add value to the deal?

In the process now. Fresh paint, new carpeting, fixing odds and ends. Doesn't need much work to be able to list.