Hi Cleveland folks!

We are a queer married couple from San Francisco looking to expand our REI portfolio in Cleveland. We led with that detail about our identity as lesbians because we want to build a gay-friendly team and avoid any friction in this area down the road. Another important value for us is that they not be racist, which sadly comes up a lot in real estate.

Okay, on with the actual ask... We have REI history in vacation rentals, and now want to focus on long term buy and holds for cash flow. We are interested both SFH and multi-family properties. To start we looking for good deals on properties that would not need much improvement to rent out. Later down the line as we have a good team in place we may be interested in trying the BRRRR strategy on a property that would need more TLC.

If y'all have any recommendations/referrals to build out a great Cleveland team, we'd greatly appreciate it! Our current focus is to find investor-friendly agents and property managers.

Thanks in advance!

-Sandy & Carrie

**Apologies to those who already saw this message, as it was mistakenly posted in the wrong city's forum. -- newbie-error. ;-)

I've been looking for a crew, management, and agent in Cleveland as well.  It's tough right now!  I'm looking for my first out of state investment (I'm Seattle based).

Mike, have you been pre-approved with a lender yet?

Hello. Do you know which part of Cleveland you want to invest? Or are you still exploring areas? I was active in investing and property management in Cleveland for five years. Please feel free to DM me and I can try to refer you to someone for the area you are looking in. Wishing you all the best! 

Originally posted by @Stephen Knapp :

Hello. Do you know which part of Cleveland you want to invest? Or are you still exploring areas? I was active in investing and property management in Cleveland for five years. Please feel free to DM me and I can try to refer you to someone for the area you are looking in. Wishing you all the best! 

 Did you move out because of rough weather? 

What areas do you advise to oos/c investors and why? 

@Ari Hadar

Ha. California winters are nice; but I enjoyed all the seasons in Cleveland, especially fall. My main reason for moving back to California was that I got married, had a baby and we wanted to be closer to family.

As an out-of-state investor, personally, I would want to target long-term tenants. Find areas with less turnover, less turn costs, etc. When I lived in Cleveland, I targeted an area that catered to university grad students and medical residents (Cleveland Heights). It was a great market, but the turnover was very high (40%-50%/year). Later, I also targeted a more long-term tenant market (Shaker Heights). Here you had long-term professional tenants, people downsizing from SFH and a smaller mix of medical residents. A somewhat similar market on the Westside would be Lakewood. Two transitioning markets that have received a lot of investor (and developer) interest are Ohio City and Gordon Square.

There’s a lot of nuance there. Before I invested, I would at a minimum, spend 3 days on-the-ground checking out different neighborhoods and find an area that fits your comfort zone. Best of luck!

@Brian Garlington

I currently can't acquire any new loans since the majority of my rentals are in forbearance so I would be buying cash until I end those forbearances.

Originally posted by @Stephen Knapp :

@Ari Hadar

Ha. California winters are nice; but I enjoyed all the seasons in Cleveland, especially fall. My main reason for moving back to California was that I got married, had a baby and we wanted to be closer to family.

As an out-of-state investor, personally, I would want to target long-term tenants. Find areas with less turnover, less turn costs, etc. When I lived in Cleveland, I targeted an area that catered to university grad students and medical residents (Cleveland Heights). It was a great market, but the turnover was very high (40%-50%/year). Later, I also targeted a more long-term tenant market (Shaker Heights). Here you had long-term professional tenants, people downsizing from SFH and a smaller mix of medical residents. A somewhat similar market on the Westside would be Lakewood. Two transitioning markets that have received a lot of investor (and developer) interest are Ohio City and Gordon Square.

There’s a lot of nuance there. Before I invested, I would at a minimum, spend 3 days on-the-ground checking out different neighborhoods and find an area that fits your comfort zone. Best of luck!

In cle hgts you said the turn over 40-50 for the grad students and medical residents but if they give you 3 month notice you can find new tenant and not lose money. If you pay one month rent fee to the pm for new tenants it can be problem. What about any sfr/mf? 

About shaker heights, lakewood, Ohio city they became expensive and the rent is below 1 %... 

Probably only c area meet the 1% rule

@Sandy Metivier

It seems the ship has sailed on good deals in good neighborhoods. Lots of out of state investors have driven the prices way up. I have a double in lakewood I bought for 110k just over 4 years ago. It would appraise at 240+ with no improvements.

The issue here is that as others have said the numbers don't make much sense. When I bought the average 2/1 rent was 750/mo. Now its around 1100ish. People have not gotten 20% raises to account for the rent hikes and I personally feel as if it is unsustainable. "Don't try to time the market" well I honestly do not see how prices can go any higher in lakewood.

With all that said- Lakewood is as gay and multicultural as you are going to get in the cleveland area. Our little city is very progressive and we are very small business oriented.

Hi Sandy,

We own over 100 units in great locations throughout the Cleveland area and have been investing in this market since 1995. Very happy with the income predictability of these asset types.  Andrew Weiner from Realty Now Property Management manages out entire portfolio and we have been very happy with his professionalism and communication.  If you reach out to him, I'm certain he can help you with identifying other vendors for your local team.  Best of luck!

Uri

@Ari Hadar

SFH will tend to have lower turnover than Mulit. In university areas, turnover happens annually during the same months (move out May-June; move-in July-August); so you plan and budget for it. But it means you need a rock solid marketing and leasing program in place, year-after-year.

Not every good (or even great) deal is going to fit the 1% rule. I use it more as an analysis tool than a mandate. The price to rent on Class C in Cleveland might look appealing on paper, but make sure rents adequately cover maintenance, CapEx (deferred and future) and a healthy vacancy buffer. 

Originally posted by @Kyle Parks :

@Sandy Metivier

The issue here is that as others have said the numbers don't make much sense. When I bought the average 2/1 rent was 750/mo. Now its around 1100ish. People have not gotten 20% raises to account for the rent hikes and I personally feel as if it is unsustainable. "Don't try to time the market" well I honestly do not see how prices can go any higher in lakewood.

Thanks Kyle for the response. That is interesting food-for-thought. Yeah, I have some friends that bought and moved to Lakewood a couple years ago. They were saying something similar about how quickly it climbed (they are originally from Cleveland, so well aware of the city). 

@Uri Gofman Thanks for the referral and response! 

@Stephen Knapp Thanks again Stephen for all your help outside of this thread! Greatly appreciated!

Originally posted by @Sandy Metivier :

Hi Cleveland folks!

We are a queer married couple from San Francisco looking to expand our REI portfolio in Cleveland. We led with that detail about our identity as lesbians because we want to build a gay-friendly team and avoid any friction in this area down the road. Another important value for us is that they not be racist, which sadly comes up a lot in real estate.

Okay, on with the actual ask... We have REI history in vacation rentals, and now want to focus on long term buy and holds for cash flow. We are interested both SFH and multi-family properties. To start we looking for good deals on properties that would not need much improvement to rent out. Later down the line as we have a good team in place we may be interested in trying the BRRRR strategy on a property that would need more TLC.

If y'all have any recommendations/referrals to build out a great Cleveland team, we'd greatly appreciate it! Our current focus is to find investor-friendly agents and property managers.

Thanks in advance!

-Sandy & Carrie

**Apologies to those who already saw this message, as it was mistakenly posted in the wrong city's forum. -- newbie-error. ;-)

 Before doing anything the 1st thing one needs to do is understand the lay of the land. We've got a lot of out of state folks getting mesmerized by the low pricing out here in Cleveland. Some of the areas though are blighted beyond what most west cost folks are used to. So would bookmark The Ultimate Guide to Grading Cleveland Neighborhoods so you can refer back to it when doing due diligence on any properties or neighborhoods you are presented.

Hello all! I am an agent and investor in Cleveland. I would love to see if I can help in any way!

@Sandy Metivier

Hey Sandy, I am from the Cleveland market and I am not gay, but I’m not racist either. I love everybody that loves me, LOL.

Seriously though there are a couple of areas in Cleveland that really set exactly what you’re looking for.

Check out Lakewood and just east of West 117th and Clifton. It is a great area to invest with a very diverse crowd.

If you would like to chat, or if you plan on stopping into Cleveland, I would be happy to share some time with you that could help you identify some great areas.

I love your honesty and being straightforward! It makes life so much easier!



@Mike Leybourne

I think that’s great you’re looking for boots on the ground, most people deal with me because I am here and have connections.

I am not a property manager fan, I believe with the right system in process you can manage yourself from a distance.

You absolutely need boots on the ground to run task for you.

The better the area that you buy in, the less assistance you need.

Hope that helps.