Trouble renting units in Cincinnati

Cincinnati, Ohio
General Landlording & Rental Properties
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Trouble renting units in Cincinnati

Jacklyn Robins
Rental Property Investor · Port Washington, NY · Member since 2022 · 27 posts · 36 votes

Hi all. I'll preface this by saying i'm not a new investor. I've been buying and selling properties since 2019. Stayed afloat (barely) through the pandemic with NY properties so i've seen it all at this point. 

Looking for some guidance here. Purchased a 4 unit property in Cincinnati (Avondale) 2 months ago. I went through a realtor we've been using for the past 3 years in Dayton, OH (he sells in both Dayton and Cincinatti). Property looked great on paper. 2 (3) bedroom units renovated and unoccupied, 2 (3) bedroom units not renovated and occupied by section 8 tenants. Plenty of room for upgrades in the building which was appealing. Seller was extremely motivated to sell and we closed pretty quickly.

Here's the issue- we've been unable to rent the 2 renovated units. I started digging deeper (which I probably should have done sooner) and it turns out, they've been on the market since March. There's a 40 unit building next door to mine which is primarily made up of section 8 and 24/7 security out there. Apparently some pretty sketchy people from that building are hanging out in front of mine which is scaring potential tenants away when our property manager brings them around. Cops have been called but nothing has been done. None of this was brought to my attention because the showings were strategically done when there was noone in front of the property. My realtor went there and did video calls with me a number of times to show the property and everything seemed legit. 

I've had properties in pretty rough neighborhoods and i've never had this issue. Anyone have any advice here? Our property manager is really aggressive and doing all she can, but we're going on 3 months at this point and we need to get these units rented.

Link to one of the units listed- https://www.trulia.com/building/3640-reading-road-1-3640-rea...

 

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Adam BartomeoBusiness Member
Real Estate Broker · Cape Coral, FL · Member since 2015 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
1y

Based on what you have explained here and assuming that all of it is true, than you really only have two options to get it rented

1. Lower the price

2. Lower the qualifications.

Real estate is extremely local. As you are finding out, it is so local that the next door building effects your investment. Sounds like your agent wasn't experienced enough in the area.

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  • Adam BartomeoBusiness Member
    Real Estate Broker · Cape Coral, FL · Member since 2015 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    1y

    Based on what you have explained here and assuming that all of it is true, than you really only have two options to get it rented

    1. Lower the price

    2. Lower the qualifications.

    Real estate is extremely local. As you are finding out, it is so local that the next door building effects your investment. Sounds like your agent wasn't experienced enough in the area.

    [email protected]239-339-3969
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  • Sam McCormackBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Cincinnati, OH/NKY · Member since 2021 · 1k+ posts · 833 votes
    1y
    Quote from @Jacklyn Robins:

    Hi all. I'll preface this by saying i'm not a new investor. I've been buying and selling properties since 2019. Stayed afloat (barely) through the pandemic with NY properties so i've seen it all at this point. 

    Looking for some guidance here. Purchased a 4 unit property in Cincinnati (Avondale) 2 months ago. I went through a realtor we've been using for the past 3 years in Dayton, OH (he sells in both Dayton and Cincinatti). Property looked great on paper. 2 (3) bedroom units renovated and unoccupied, 2 (3) bedroom units not renovated and occupied by section 8 tenants. Plenty of room for upgrades in the building which was appealing. Seller was extremely motivated to sell and we closed pretty quickly.

    Here's the issue- we've been unable to rent the 2 renovated units. I started digging deeper (which I probably should have done sooner) and it turns out, they've been on the market since March. There's a 40 unit building next door to mine which is primarily made up of section 8 and 24/7 security out there. Apparently some pretty sketchy people from that building are hanging out in front of mine which is scaring potential tenants away when our property manager brings them around. Cops have been called but nothing has been done. None of this was brought to my attention because the showings were strategically done when there was noone in front of the property. My realtor went there and did video calls with me a number of times to show the property and everything seemed legit. 

    I've had properties in pretty rough neighborhoods and i've never had this issue. Anyone have any advice here? Our property manager is really aggressive and doing all she can, but we're going on 3 months at this point and we need to get these units rented.

    Link to one of the units listed- https://www.trulia.com/building/3640-reading-road-1-3640-rea...

     


     Hey Jacklyn, I am going to shoot you a message real quick about connecting to talk some more about this

    [email protected]859-443-4952
    Sam McCormack Realtor
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  • Jacklyn Robins
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Port Washington, NY · Member since 2022 · 27 posts · 36 votes
    1y

    @Sam McCormack Sounds good. Thanks.

    0Reply
  • Scott Mac
    Austin, TX · Member since 2019 · 5k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    1y

    Location Location Location.

    Good Luck!

    1Reply
  • John MorganPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Grand Prairie, TX · Member since 2018 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    1y

    Can you at least break even if you go sec 8? I’d do that or keep lowering the price. I have one near a homeless shelter and a liquor store. It’s like a scene out of a zombie movie as these people stagger down the middle of the street to the liquor store on the corner past my house. Nobody wants to be around people like this, so I’ve had to lower my rent drastically and have a high turnover rate here. I should have driven this hood at multiple hours of the day before I bought. My mistake.

    3Reply
  • Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
    1y
    Quote from @Jacklyn Robins:

    You've "never" had this issue, but you've only managed a few properties for five years. I've seen many landlords that get lucky with good renters for a long period of time, then everything falls apart when they have to deal with real difficulty.

    I looked up your property on Google Maps, and the street view looks bad. The building next to yours looks much nicer and has THREE security vehicles parked in front. That's not a good sign. If I were a decent renter shopping in that neighborhood, I would choose that brick building over yours every time. 

    Your pictures aren't doing you any favors. Use a wide-angle lens so you can fit more of a room into the image, and try different angles to show more of the room. For instance, your bathroom picture is so close up that it looks even smaller than it probably is. Why is the refrigerator in a closet, and how does that correlate to the rest of the kitchen? You have eight pictures total, but three are of the kitchen, one is outside, and one is the bathroom. Where are the three bedrooms? Where's the living room? Your pictures do not paint a picture of what I'm looking at.

    There is a renovated 2bed/1bath right around the corner for $1,050 and it has a decent floorplan. You need to demonstrate why yours is worth 40% more.

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  • Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
    1y

    Here's a decent video teaching you how to take marketing photos. It includes a lot of good/bad examples.

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  • Jacklyn Robins
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Port Washington, NY · Member since 2022 · 27 posts · 36 votes
    1y

    @Nathan Gesner

    I didn't say i've owned "a few properties" for 5 years. My husband and I have owned 20 multi- family properties. I had tenants that stopped paying rent for 2 years in NY during the pandemic and we couldn't kick them out, i've had tenants move out and leave someone squatting and NY made it impossible to evict them so I had to pay them off, i've had tenants destroy their apartments before they moved out (maggots in the fridge, flushing their kids toys down the toilet etc) so i've dealt with real difficulty. When I say i've never had this issue, I mean- Even in the D class neighborhoods i've owned properties in, i've never dealt with vacant apartments for this amount of time.

    If you're comparing the 40 unit building next door to mine with security, it's sort of like comparing apples to oranges. There's a reason security is there. And it's not because of my 4 units (2 of which are vacant).

    With all that being said, I do appreciate your feedback the images. This is the kind of advice I was looking for. Oh, and maybe someone that can get these rented. 

    2Reply
  • Jacklyn Robins
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Port Washington, NY · Member since 2022 · 27 posts · 36 votes
    1y

    @John Morgan That's what some of my properties in Rochester, NY properties were like. Zombie movies. The 2 units that are rented are covering the mortgage so yes there's room to lower the price on the other 2. However, Cincinnati HUD is apparently backed up so we've yet to see the payments for the rented units from October.

    0Reply
  • Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
    1y
    Quote from @Jacklyn Robins:

    Sorry, I clearly misunderstood your level of experience.

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  • Isaiah Lopez-Torres
    Rental Property Investor · Cincinnati, OH · Member since 2023 · 62 posts · 35 votes
    1y
    Quote from @Adam Bartomeo:

    Based on what you have explained here and assuming that all of it is true, than you really only have two options to get it rented

    1. Lower the price

    2. Lower the qualifications.

    Real estate is extremely local. As you are finding out, it is so local that the next door building effects your investment. Sounds like your agent wasn't experienced enough in the area.

    This 100%. Some parts of Avondale are real sketch and some parts are a bit nicer (North Avondale) Cincinnati is a very block by block city.
    2Reply
  • Gregory Wilson
    Member since 2024 · 238 posts · 132 votes
    1y

    Jackie: Sorry for your loss. thank you for posting because others will learn from your mistake. The Google Maps image from that address search looks like this:

    This is not what you want to see when you are looking for an apartment whether it is NY or Cincinnati. 

    4Reply
  • Jordan Blanton
    Member since 2019 · 37 posts · 30 votes
    1y

    Just for context, being from the area, that is one of the worst inner city areas in Greater Cincinnati. Furthermore, it is on a very busy, very dangerous state route that is saturated with crime. 

    3Reply
  • Jacklyn Robins
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Port Washington, NY · Member since 2022 · 27 posts · 36 votes
    1y

    @Gregory Wilson can you be more clear about what you mean about a loss? Also, that’s not an image of my building. Can you suggest a way to update that image?

    0Reply
  • Gregory Wilson
    Member since 2024 · 238 posts · 132 votes
    1y

    You are right that your building is not shown and is only nearby. I think Google is pretty sensitive to remove the images of people and you could start by requesting that Google remove the photo since it is likely that it depicts your tenants (whether it actually does or doesn't) and see if they will do it.

    I had not looked but I now see the bigger problem and that is that your Zillow listing shows the same thing. They will not change a street view which they choose from the address. I'd cancel and relist without the street address or use a slightly different address. But I would not continue the Zillow et al. listing with that photo. See what happens when you make a new listing for 3650 Reading Road.

    0Reply
  • Gregory Wilson
    Member since 2024 · 238 posts · 132 votes
    1y
    Quote from @Jacklyn Robins:

    @Gregory Wilson can you be more clear about what you mean about a loss? Also, that’s not an image of my building. Can you suggest a way to update that image?


    I am sorry, but it looks like you paid $390,000 for a building that might be worth $250,000. And, when you see your next tax bill, your heart will stop. I am truly sorry.  You now know you should have come up here and walked around at 10pm and sat on the corner for a few minutes to really know what you were buying. All real estate is local. Your local agent did not do you any favors unless he described the property as Jordan correctly did above.
    2Reply
  • Drew SygitBusiness Member
    Property Manager · Royal Oak, MI · Member since 2012 · 12k+ posts · 9k+ votes
    1y

    @Jacklyn Robins not trying to be difficult, but how many Class C or D properties do you have besides this one?

    What Class of tenants are you aiming for?

    What minimum credit score?

    Agree with others that you will probably need to lower the rent - suggest 5% every 2-4 weeks until activity picks up. 

    This is also the worst time of year to find tenants!

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  • Arun D.
    Flipper/Rehabber · Scottsdale, AZ · Member since 2013 · 11 posts · 7 votes
    1y

    Drop price $50 or $100 

    Wait 2-3 weeks and if no renter emerges drop it another $50-$100. Keep dropping it in increments until it's rented.

    It's always price. There are more options for renters so it's putting pressure on rents btwn 10%- 20%. This is happening everywhere.



    0Reply
  • Gregory Wilson
    Member since 2024 · 238 posts · 132 votes
    1y

    Sadly, it is not always about price. It is about supply and demand.  Price is a consequence not a predicate. There is no faster way to lose your pile than thinking price is a predicate for a sale. The OP in this thread needs to create a demand for her property. 

    0Reply
  • Caria Mitchell
    Interior Decorator · Nationwide · Member since 2022 · 14 posts · 4 votes
    1y

    I’m in Ohio and I understand this fully. We have a shortage of qualified applicants and conventional renters, which was created over Covid 19. You are comparing your units to other units like yours, however, you may want to consider what makes your unit better. I would recommend more photos, especially of bedrooms. Virtual staging would help, pictures of the parking lot would help as well. Also lower your rent a bit ($1300) and reduce your deposit to $700. 

    Highlight the area shopping, business etc, distance to schools . Offer discounts for applying in a short time period or- offer a free application fee. 

    0Reply
  • Samuel DioufBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Columbus & Cleveland, OH · Member since 2023 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    1y
    Quote from @Jacklyn Robins:

    Hi all. I'll preface this by saying i'm not a new investor. I've been buying and selling properties since 2019. Stayed afloat (barely) through the pandemic with NY properties so i've seen it all at this point. 

    Looking for some guidance here. Purchased a 4 unit property in Cincinnati (Avondale) 2 months ago. I went through a realtor we've been using for the past 3 years in Dayton, OH (he sells in both Dayton and Cincinatti). Property looked great on paper. 2 (3) bedroom units renovated and unoccupied, 2 (3) bedroom units not renovated and occupied by section 8 tenants. Plenty of room for upgrades in the building which was appealing. Seller was extremely motivated to sell and we closed pretty quickly.

    Here's the issue- we've been unable to rent the 2 renovated units. I started digging deeper (which I probably should have done sooner) and it turns out, they've been on the market since March. There's a 40 unit building next door to mine which is primarily made up of section 8 and 24/7 security out there. Apparently some pretty sketchy people from that building are hanging out in front of mine which is scaring potential tenants away when our property manager brings them around. Cops have been called but nothing has been done. None of this was brought to my attention because the showings were strategically done when there was noone in front of the property. My realtor went there and did video calls with me a number of times to show the property and everything seemed legit. 

    I've had properties in pretty rough neighborhoods and i've never had this issue. Anyone have any advice here? Our property manager is really aggressive and doing all she can, but we're going on 3 months at this point and we need to get these units rented.

    Link to one of the units listed- https://www.trulia.com/building/3640-reading-road-1-3640-rea...

     


    Hey Jacklyn, when investing OOS, it's very important to do your due diligence on what neighborhood grade your property is in. 

    The D/F locations look great on paper but almost never pencil out that way with all the vacancies and expenses. 

    The best way to solve this situation now would be by ensuring you've presented the units in the most attractive way possible. Make cosmetic updates if needed, offer free months rent on a longer lease, make sure your units have qualities like laundry and AC. 

    [email protected]614-662-1652
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  • Timur Salikov
    Cincinnati, OH · Member since 2016 · 116 posts · 83 votes
    1y

    Yeah not a great spot. I hope that real estate agent knows more about Dayton then Cincy. I believe he shouldn't have let you buy this building unless you fully knw what you are getting yourself into. I own a 3 unit in the area but a different street. So far, I haven't had any issues renting my unit. I believe the main issue is 2 fold: 1. Busy street 2. Too many low income apartment buildings near by / vacant buildings. As a matter of fact, the red 4 unit next door is always on Zillow trying to be sold. But by the the biggest issue is PRICE. For $1,500 renters in Cincy would expend very nice place on a quiet street and desirable area. 

     

    1Reply
  • Jacklyn Robins
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Port Washington, NY · Member since 2022 · 27 posts · 36 votes
    1y

    @Timur Salikov In NYC, $1,500 gets you a 400 sq ft apartment with a subway station under your feet and crackheads outside your window. Yet everyone still wants to live here.

    Open to connect? I'd love to hear your take on the block.

    0Reply
  • Timur Salikov
    Cincinnati, OH · Member since 2016 · 116 posts · 83 votes
    1y

    Jacklyn Robins, yeah sure. I'll try and help any way I can. Just shoot me a DM.


    0Reply
  • Jordan FioreBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Cincinnati, OH · Member since 2020 · 169 posts · 145 votes
    1y

    Yea, the area is not the best and the passed 2-3 months is always pretty tough to rent. That is a mixture of units sitting. Hopefully the current occupied units are paying every month. Beat the comps with price and these should be rented as it gets warmer, until march its pretty tough but almost there!

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