Investing in Columbus, Ohio

[Ram Kothandan]

Hi,

How are you doing? I really appreciate your time and valuable advice. 

I am a beginner investor, looking to invest in buy and hold residential real estate, for cash-flow and possible appreciation. We live in long island, ny, where it is difficult to get good investment properties.
We are looking to invest in Columbus, OH. Our budget range is up to 120K, for a duplex house.
Can someone please advise us the areas where it is better to invest? Also, we need some advice about when is the best time of the year to buy in Columbus to get better deals. Appreciate your help!

[Kim Younkin]

Hi, @Ram Kothandan,

I actually work with David Panzera, and wanted to pipe in and let you know about an investor's group here in Columbus that I joined about a year ago to learn about local investing here in our business. Since you're in New York, you might check them out online. I'm not sure if you have to be a member to use their website resources so be aware of that. It's the Central Ohio Real Estate Entrepreneurs group at www.centralohioreia.com. I've been going to meetings for a long time and they just hosted a vendor show where we participated as I vendor. They offer a lot of good local and general real estate investing advice, and the person who runs it, Vena Jones-Cox, also has a lot of educational YouTube videos. 

As to your zip code question, our philosophy at Panzera Realty is that we encourage our investors to buy in school zone zip codes for tenant longevity and property appreciation issues, among other reasons (we want our investors to stay away from C & D properties). Most of the zip codes around the larger suburbs are good: i.e., Dublin (43017, 43016), Westerville (43081, 43082), Worthington (43085), Hilliard (43026), Upper Arlington (43220, 43221), Grandview (43212), to name a few. 

Give us a shout if we can help any more, and good luck!

Kim Younkin