All Forum Posts by: Ed W.

@Ryan Mainwaring  @Matt Stewart

There is a Central Ohio landlord group you should check out this month because the main discussion will be important to not only landlords, but wholesalers, and newbies in general. The topic will “Buying Right” and will touch on determining value and what types of properties appeal to tenants and owner-occupants.This group has monthly meetings and is meeting this Thursday, March 24th. The meetings are well-attended, FREE and held at Tommy's Pizza on Dublin-Granville between Sawmill and Riverside. From 6:00-6:45 there will be a Q&A session primarily geared to newbies, then the discussion mentioned above and after that there will be networking.

@Matt Stewart

Hi Matt, I don't know the depth of your experience but I will suggest that it is almost inconceivable to me that you wouldn't find the meeting of value:

1. Since you are a rehabber, having the chance to listen to and ask questions of the head of code enforcement should be of value to you.

2. The meeting is usually well attended.  It's hard for me to predict but the last few meetings have had between 40 and 50 attendees.  I'm anticipating (but can't guarantee) we'll be at 50 so this Thursday.  Some of the attendees (including me) actively wholesale (I'm also a landlord and where a couple of other hats but I am an active wholesaler) and some actively rehab.  We'll have a dedicated networking session and if you attend and remind me, I'll try to get wholesalers to meet with those looking for property.

@Keith Vinson@Alli Issa @David L.@Jessie Niu

If you are looking for like-minded investors, you may want to attend a landlording meeting that I moderate.

This Thursday, Feb. 25th, the FREE landlording and networking meeting will be at Tommy's Pizza on Dublin-Granville from around 6 - 9:00 PM. (You can arrive later than 6 PM but the earlier you get there the more opportunity you have to learn and meet people as we will have a Q&A session for the first 45 minutes.)

Our speaker will be Dana Rose, the Administrator of the City of Columbus Division of Code Enforcement. He is scheduled to start at 6:45. We often have as many or more BP members in attendance as the last meetup I attended and we will have about an hour set aside for networking. Whether or not you are interested in landlording, code enforcement impacts many aspects of real estate investing and it is well worth the time to understand the process and ask questions if you care to.

@Chad Miller

@Robert Ellis

Chad, Robert stated it correctly. The landlording meeting that I moderate used to be affiliated with Columbus REIA but that organization hasn't had meetings for quite some time.

This Thursday, Feb. 25th, the FREE landlording and networking meeting will be at Tommy's Pizza on Dublin-Granville from around 6 - 9:00 PM. (You can arrive later than 6 PM but the earlier you get there the more opportunity you have to learn and meet people as we will have a Q&A session for the first 45 minutes.)  

Our speaker will be Dana Rose, the Administrator of the City of Columbus Division of Code Enforcement.  He is scheduled to start at 6:45. We often have as many or more BP members in attendance as the last meetup I attended and we will have about an hour set aside for networking.  Whether or not you are interested in landlording, code enforcement impacts many aspects of real estate investing and it is well worth the time to understand the process and ask questions if you care to.

@Alex Gingrich

@John Horner gave you as good a general answer/approach as you can reasonably expect given the limited information you provide and BP responders not being able to see the layout, the particular construction of the building(s), the condition of the improvements including the lot, and lot of other variables. 

I would add the following to the mix which, while not necessarily quantifiable to dollars/unit are nonetheless important considerations.  The inherent vacancy rate in the area, the current vacancy % of the subject property, the number of other similar properties and other rentals in the area and the type of tenants they attract, the exact location of the building(s) within the area, the layout of the building(s) either providing or restricting visibility from the street (and whether or not the street has a lot of traffic or not).  Of course, the age and condition of the mechanicals and appliances will also be factors. 

Having self-managed in C areas for many years, I strongly believe that the actual answer to your question is going to be strongly ("extremely" is probably a better word) influenced by the management company you choose and your ability to manage the management company.  You should be able to get competent management for about 8% plus some of the costs already mentioned.  Assuming the property is inherently worthwhile to purchase, with competent management your costs, vacancy rate, and delinquency should be reasonable and produce reasonably steady profits.  Without it, you're better off investing in fax machine stocks.

As an agent whose specialty is multi-unit, perhaps @Robert Ellis has some factual data he can share but I've seen and heard enough anecdotal information related to vacancy rates that I'm going to do some research myself over the next weeks.  Over the past 5 years or so about 20,000 - 30,000 new units (you can get closer to my guess via a little research on the Columbus market) have been added.  They are, of course, almost exclusively in "A" areas and very aggressive on rental rates.  I was shocked to learn recently that one of them that has been up and running for about 2 years currently has about 20% vacancy.  I've seen some other signs that we may overbuilt (remember - this is anecdotal and merely a caution that requires investigation to determine its validity or lack of validity and is related only to A properties at the moment - my vacancy rate on C properties typically runs about 5% - 10% with aggressive management and strong screening).   

Welcome @Brittney O'Connor.

Just out of curiousity, do you have experience in the trades (carpentry, plumbing, etc.) or some other experience that will help you out the gate with the rehab side?

Though your main interest is rehabbing, there is a Columbus landlord group you should check out.  Why?  They cover all aspects of landlording which includes buying right which is common to both rehabbing and landlording.  This month they have a speaker absolutely on point for your goals.  They have a monthly meetings and on February 25th the speaker will be Dana Rose, the Administrator of Columbus Code Enforcement.  As a rehabber, you will have many meetings/encounters with Code Enforcement.  The meetings are well-attended, FREE and held at Tommy's Pizza on Dublin-Granville.  From 6:00-6:45 there will be a Q&A session primarily geared to newbies and after the speaker there will be networking.

COREE is also a worthwhile, more general group which meets the first Tuesday of the month.  The March meeting will be a vendor fair at the Villa Milano.

@Derrek D. Since your main interest is rentals there is a Columbus landlord group you should check out.  They have a monthly meetings and on February 25th the speaker will be Dana Rose, the Administrator of Columbus Code Enforcement.  The meetings are FREE and held at Tommy's Pizza on Dublin-Granville.  From 6:00-6:45 there will be a Q&A session primarily geared to newbies and after the speaker there will be networking. 

@Scott Trench Like most decisions in real estate, it's not only CAN you do it but SHOULD you do it.  At the end of the day, your local office market should dictate (or at least suggest) whether or not purchasing or leasing is the better choice.  

I am not a commercial guy but I do know that the Central Ohio office market has been weak for at least 20 years.  New Class A buildings seem to do well but the rest don't.  My real estate business has been a rental tenant (not an owner) for the last 25 years in an office suite that is part of an office condo complex.  Those office condos have not appreciated 1 penny since I've been there and my rent has not gone up once since I've been there.  My costs and liabilities have stayed low for the entire time I've been there and rent includes utilities, internet, copier, fax (when it was relevant), cleaning, etc.  The office was filled with tenants when I first moved in but over the last 10 years or so my landlord - despite his efforts and those of agents - has only managed to keep it about half full.  There was a period of time during the recession that within a mile radius +/- of my office there was about 1 million sq. ft. of vacant office space and there has never been a time in the last 25 years that the vacancy in the area (at least to my knowledge) has ever been lower than about 15%.

Of course, I don't have a clue about the Denver market but you owe it to yourself to carefully analyze it.

@Jon Joseph As someone who up to a couple of years ago had owned rental property in Dayton for years, who may be familiar with the property you were looking at (admittedly the possibility is low, it's been at least 5 years since I've been through any Dayton 5-unit properties), and who has done many, many seller financed purchases and who just last week gave a 2 hour presentation on seller financing to members of COREE (the most prominent REIA affiliated organization in Columbus) my prediction and strong opinion is that you will not be happy with the outcome. Either get much better terms (lower down AND much lower monthly payments AND preferably a 20 or longer year term or, at worst, a 30 year amortization and a balloon that pops no sooner than 15 years) or say "no". Unless you are going to hire a well-vetted, excellent property manager, expect to be in Dayton frequently (and, as a condition of the contract, you need to vet each tenant personally and have them sign estoppels).

What I wrote above is a condensed version of my opinion.  If you want to talk further, PM me. 

@Robert Ellis About a dozen folks, myself included, were chatting/networking until around 10 PM but it seems like a reasonable thing to try on a more formal basis so we'll give it a whirl.  Thanks for the suggestion.