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All Forum Posts by: Tristan Kelly

Tristan Kelly has started 1 posts and replied 6 times.

Post: First MF purchase in Cleveland OH

Tristan KellyPosted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Cleveland OH
  • Posts 6
  • Votes 6
Quote from @Drew Sygit:

@Tristan Kelly hope this goes well for you!

We don't recommend "newbies" start out with Class D properties. Even Class C is pushing it, so we recommend C+ minimum.


 After my experience I would recommend the same! The area, people and marketability of the units haven't been a problem. Simply put, there are a limited amount of PMs that will operate in the area, so I ended up with poor management. Otherwise the area itself has been great! 

Post: First MF purchase in Cleveland OH

Tristan KellyPosted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Cleveland OH
  • Posts 6
  • Votes 6
Quote from @Larissa Lacman:

Thanks for sharing. Do you have any recommendations for reliable contractors and handypersons in Cleveland area? 

@Larissa Lacman unfortunately I do not yet. I scoured craigslist, the web and facebook for people to do very specific tasks. A lot of stuff I handled myself. From working with an S8 specific contractor the sentiment was that many people don't want to work on distressed properties, as they can work in nicer areas and charge more money. I'm still actively searching for a solid contractor as I eye a BRRRR in early to mid 2025

Post: First MF purchase in Cleveland OH

Tristan KellyPosted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Cleveland OH
  • Posts 6
  • Votes 6

Thank you Shawn much appreciated! It has been good to be brought down to reality and realize that there will be many struggles during the process.

Post: First MF purchase in Cleveland OH

Tristan KellyPosted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Cleveland OH
  • Posts 6
  • Votes 6

@Jaycee Greene I love that! Initially I didn't have a personal connection to the area and didn't know much about the city. Multiple people had some bad things to say about the area, but when I moved and realized that it was a low income area with a lot of homeowners, I was motivated to improve the property to match the effort my neighbors have put in. 

Post: Investing Out Of State - Starting

Tristan KellyPosted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Cleveland OH
  • Posts 6
  • Votes 6
Quote from @Bob E.:

The key to investing out of state is finding a good property manager.  That seems to be harder in Cleveland than in our other markets.  If you find a good PM they can help you find, buy, and rent a property.  If there is a tenant in the property expect that they will likely leave within 6-12 months after you purchase so you can expect to do a rent turn and budget for that.

Seconding this! My biggest struggle on my first purchase has been solid property management. There are a lot of areas that multiple property managers won't touch. 

Post: First MF purchase in Cleveland OH

Tristan KellyPosted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Cleveland OH
  • Posts 6
  • Votes 6

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $90,000
Cash invested: $55,000

Triplex in SE Cleveland (D+ neighborhood)

Purchased for 90 and saw 105 for valuation. 25% down plus closing costs and unit repairs has led to about 50-60k going into the deal. First year was very rough with poor property management and tenants. Stabilized in late 2024 and will be seeing about 900 in monthly cash flow.

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

I wanted to start with a cheaper property I could reasonably afford and also learn from. Multifamily always made sense to me as initially I was very impatient and wanted to see a decent cashflow.

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

Found on Zillow during a competitive time in the market. Slightly increased the offer to quickly go under contract, but still had inspections and everything done before completing the deal.

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional loan, 25% down at ~7% interest rate

How did you add value to the deal?

Offered 3k in holding and moved quickly

What was the outcome?

Deal closed, higher valuation than purchase price. Enough immediate cashflow to balance out the mortgage, taxes and insurance.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Try to see the property yourself if you can (was out of state initially). Take the effort to solicit contractor recommendations from multiple people. Begin a maintenance schedule ASAP. Think about lead certification for Cleveland if you are purchasing in the current market.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Investor focused real estate agent was Journey Toole. Lender was Amko lending.