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All Forum Posts by: Tom Ott

Tom Ott has started 941 posts and replied 4593 times.

Post: Cleveland-Based Real Estate Investor Group Recommendations

Tom OttPosted
  • Equity Raiser and Turnkey Provider
  • Cleveland, OH
  • Posts 4,766
  • Votes 1,368
Originally posted by @Griffin Myers:

I live in Chicago but am closing on my first duplex (and first property in general) in 44109 by the end of this month, hopefully. I'm hoping to learn a ton with this first property and scale into more properties as my knowledge base grows.

Given I'm an OOS investor, I'm interested in making connections with people familiar with real estate investing in the Cleveland area. Please feel free to drop a note if you'd like to connect!

Separately, does anyone have any recommendations for Cleveland-based real estate investor groups/associations? Would love to join one of these groups to meet more people and grow my network further. I really appreciate any insight anybody is able to provide.

 Hello and welcome! Cleveland is a great place for investments.  There are plenty of professionals around the forums, I would start searching there as well. Good luck to you! 

Post: Ohio - Real Estate Agent Referral

Tom OttPosted
  • Equity Raiser and Turnkey Provider
  • Cleveland, OH
  • Posts 4,766
  • Votes 1,368
Originally posted by @Ananeya Abebe:

Hello All,

I am a newbie on BiggerPockets and looking to invest in my first out of state property in Ohio. I am particularly looking within the Shaker Heights area. I currently live in the Washington DC Metro Area and looking forward to networking with folks here.

I am currently looking for referrals for real estate agents that would be able to be my eyes and ears as an out of state investor. The original agent that I had really didn’t meet my needs (e.g., lack of adequate communication, didn’t take initiative on listings, made mistakes on purchase agreements and hoped that it would’ve been overlooked).

Given that I am an out of state investor I am looking for someone I can build trust with and that can reassure a long-standing partnership. Any recommendations on reputable real estate agents?

 Shaker Heights is a great area for rentals and flipping. Just gotta find the right property. Good luck!

Post: New member in Houston, TX

Tom OttPosted
  • Equity Raiser and Turnkey Provider
  • Cleveland, OH
  • Posts 4,766
  • Votes 1,368
Originally posted by @Justin Hodges:

Hello! My name is Justin and I live in Houston, TX. I am looking for Multi-family buy-and-hold rentals in and around Houston, TX.

I'm looking to network with other investors, lenders, agents, contractors, and property managers. Hope everyone is having a great week!

 Hello and welcome! Best of luck to you. 

Post: The TRUE Cleveland Turnkey Provider (All in-house and LOCAL)

Tom OttPosted
  • Equity Raiser and Turnkey Provider
  • Cleveland, OH
  • Posts 4,766
  • Votes 1,368

If you're planning to invest in turnkey real estate, there's a lot you need to learn. Turnkey real estate investment is a lot more complex than investing in stocks and due to the legal, financial, and other requirements involved. Therefore, it is a good idea to educate yourself before you make your first turnkey real estate investment.

5 Keys to Turnkey Real Estate Investing

1. Write Down Your Goals

Planning and setting your goals are significant aspects of making your first turnkey real estate investment successful. After all, the real estate market can be unpredictable and wavering. Unless you have a solid strategy and goals in place, decisions made in haste can paralyze your investment plan.

The best way to compile your turnkey real estate investment goals is to ask yourself certain questions such as:

1. Once I invest in the first turnkey property, what will be my next step?
2. What is my ultimate plan?
3. Do I want to invest in more than one turnkey property?
4. What is my fiscal ambition in 2019?
5. What’s my long-term plan?

Look within yourself and write down everything. This is a good exercise to decide if your turnkey real estate investment goals are realistic.

2. Explore Markets of Interest

markets of interest

More than ever, real estate markets across the country are diversified. They're rising and declining, growing at varied speeds, and poised for turnkey real estate investment opportunity and exponential growth. As a turnkey real estate investor, it's critical to research potential markets of interest and their current standing in the industry and where they're heading.

This is especially vital if you’re planning to make your first turnkey real estate investment in 2019. Since each turnkey property paves the way for the next purchase, timely success translates into long-term growth scope.

3. Organize Your Investments Well

Turnkey real estate investment is similar to running a business. Therefore, it is important to ensure that you have a well-planned system in place to manage your investments and new revenue sources. You can consider the following options:

-Digital and physical tax filing systems
-Bank accounts
-Voicemail and phone systems
-Dedicated turnkey investment email accounts
-P.O. boxes

While you may find some of these unnecessary, it’s best to have them at the initial stage rather than facing issues with your turnkey real estate investment business later on down the road.

4. Build an Investor’s Routine

Even the busiest real estate investors schedule and dedicate enough time for their turnkey real estate investments. So, what exactly does an investor’s routine mean? It can be exploring new turnkey investment strategies, collaborating with other turnkey investors, exploring new markets and opportunities, reading turnkey real estate whitepapers, etc. There are thousands of free resources available online.

5. Work With an Expert Turnkey Partner

turnkey

It’s a great idea to work with a turnkey partner, especially if it’s your first turnkey real estate investment. Turnkey partners support your goals and help you invest your money in a way that makes it grow steadily. While turnkey real estate is one of the best markets to diversify your investment portfolio, it can be a little intimidating at times. Turnkey partners provide exceptional services to help you succeed and achieve your turnkey investment goals. Once you have a clear vision, your turnkey partner can join hands with you to help you move in the right direction as a turnkey investor.

Post: A new OOS investor looking for team-members in Cleveland, OH.

Tom OttPosted
  • Equity Raiser and Turnkey Provider
  • Cleveland, OH
  • Posts 4,766
  • Votes 1,368
Originally posted by @Sidharta Surya Kusnanto:

Hello folks,

I'm currently looking to purchase my first out of state investment property. And yes, this will be my first rental property purchase ever. I've been researching multiple locales (Springfield IL, Milwaukee WI, Indianapolis GA are the other alternatives) and settled on Cleveland, OH, for my first rental property purchase.

I have the capital to make 3-4 purchases for the next year. My budget is up to $100,000 per house, with 20%-25% down. My current strategy right now is to purchase a property that might require light renovation, as I want to get to know the contractors around the area. After this purchase, I want to use the BRRRR method for the follow-up purchases if I end up with a good team. I have the capital to pay the BRRRR house in cash up to $75,000 and have the do-over capital. The longer-term plan is to eventually partner up with another friend, who's already running his rental properties in Milwaukee and Memphis, into the Cleveland area for more significant capital.


Enough about my strategy, now about myself. I currently work for a tech company in the Bay Area, CA. Most of my capital and equities are in the stock market. I want to diversify and get passive cash flows in real estate. Oh, and I'm also new to Bigger Pockets, been mostly lurking and reading many of the posts around here. I've just finished reading David Greene's Remote Investing book.

Anyway, looking forward to talking with y'all, I hope everyone is keeping safe these days :).

 Cleveland is a great place for investments. Prices are still so low even with the national market increase. Demand is way up for flips or rental properties in the suburbs around here. Best of luck to you! 

Post: Aspiring OOS Investor from San Diego, CA

Tom OttPosted
  • Equity Raiser and Turnkey Provider
  • Cleveland, OH
  • Posts 4,766
  • Votes 1,368
Originally posted by @Anders Helgeson:

Hi everyone! My name is Anders. I'm living in San Diego and like a lot of California city-dwellers, it doesn't look like it makes sense for me to buy a house here. I like Cincinnati and the Northern Kentucky area as a market quite a bit. I also love the BRRR method and ideally would be able to get that rolling from the start.

My long term goal is financial independence from my W-2 job (I am very motivated), but my short term goal is to reach a point where I can cover my monthly bills with RE income. That said, I believe cash flow is going to be my primary driver on my first few deals (1% rule). I've spent quite a bit of time on BP without posting, doing a bunch of research and think I have a good handle on the process as a concept. 

If anyone in San Diego has experience with out of state BRRRs, I'd love to buy you a socially-distanced lunch and pick your brain. Also, if anyone is particularly averse to Cincy or NKy, I'd love to hear why!

 Many investors from CA like to look to the Midwest where properties are much more affordable. Cleveland, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh are very popular areas right now. Best of luck to you! 

Post: Turnkey in Cleveland slow down?

Tom OttPosted
  • Equity Raiser and Turnkey Provider
  • Cleveland, OH
  • Posts 4,766
  • Votes 1,368
Originally posted by @Itay Heled:

A question  for  turnkey providers  and those who work with out of town investors in Cleveland:  

I know the owner  occupied market is super hot right now  but have you seen any slow down/ hesitation/ cancellation  on the single family turnkey in Cleveland? 

Thanks 

Itay 

 Owner-occupied is hotter for sure, but the investments are still there. It just seems like both sectors are growing in popularity at this point. I wouldn't call anything a slowdown in this market.

Post: Cleveland or Columbus?

Tom OttPosted
  • Equity Raiser and Turnkey Provider
  • Cleveland, OH
  • Posts 4,766
  • Votes 1,368
Originally posted by @Ryan Cleary:

Out of state investor, looking to join either or both.  Your thoughts?!

 Columbus is good and all, but the price point there is a little too high for many investors. There is also a lot of competition. I guess it just depends on what you are looking for. 

Cleveland still has lower prices and it is less crowded with investors. Plenty of good options! 

Post: Cleveland or Memphis - Martel Turnkey is the BEST

Tom OttPosted
  • Equity Raiser and Turnkey Provider
  • Cleveland, OH
  • Posts 4,766
  • Votes 1,368
Originally posted by @Aj Parikh:

Hi All, Just wanted to share my WIN on my 1st turnkey purchase scheduled for end of this month. I joined a mastermind call sometime during end of July, Antoine Martel made a presentation on Turnkey rentals and while I had heard of the concept before, I was really impressed with the market research that Antoine had done for the rentals in Cleveland and Memphis. He had talked to most of the banks, realtors, wholesalers, property managers and insurance providers in his market and created the best team out of it for the investors.

I had made a note of this and had been researching properties on Martel Turnkey website and I landed on a property outside Cleveland in a town called Maple Heights. The website has a built in ability to place an offer on the property which I did. Within an hour, I got response from their sales person and she made introductions for me to the Lenders, Insurance agent, Title company and Property Management. The next day I was able to provide my information and they set up a closing date for me. 

The main incentive of a turnkey is that you are cash flowing the day you purchase the property. Overall, really impressed with the Martel Turnkey team and would definitely recommend them to anyone who is interested in buying rentals from them.


I've never heard of them. I wonder where their office is in Cleveland. Sounds like you found a good one. Congratulations and good luck! 

Post: What do you think of Maple Heights for a rental investment?

Tom OttPosted
  • Equity Raiser and Turnkey Provider
  • Cleveland, OH
  • Posts 4,766
  • Votes 1,368
Originally posted by @Jonathan Shahak:

Hi guys,

Thank you for the information!

What do you think about the neighborhood these days?

Thanks!

 Prices have gone up, rents have gone up, but the same can be said about all of Cleveland. it is a good thing because the entry point in Maple Heights is still low.