A,B,C,D areas in Columbus, OH

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A,B,C,D areas in Columbus, OH

Aaron Smith
Investor · Washington, DC · Member since 2016 · 175 posts · 73 votes

I'm compiled a list of neighborhoods in Columbus which I've classified with what I think is A,B,C,D areas. I'm curious what the average CAP rates are for multifamily properties in these areas too. That's next on my list to find out. Anyway, I'd appreciate anyone's input on if they agree/disagree with these classifications and what average CAP rates are prevalent in A,B,C, and D areas. Thanks!

Franklinton D
South Hilltop D
South orchards, old oaks D
Framingham D
Hilltop D
North Linden D
Whitehall, Lowrie Brothers C-
Olde Towne East C
Franklin Park C
Reynoldsburg
King-Lincoln Bronzeville C
Gahanna
Old North Columbus B
INDIANOLA TERRACE B
Bexley Heights B
University District B
Worthington
IUKA RAVINE B
Merion Village B
Upper Arlington B
Weinland Park B+
Victorian Village A
Grandview Heights A
Beacon Hill A
Harrison West A
Downtown A
Short north/italian village A
German Village A 
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Chad Miller
Wholesaler · Columbus, OH · Member since 2015 · 33 posts · 11 votes
10y

Upper Arlington would not be a B classification. It's one of most expensive areas in columbus and has great schools also. Not to mention the taxes are high.

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  • Chad Miller
    Wholesaler · Columbus, OH · Member since 2015 · 33 posts · 11 votes
    10y

    Upper Arlington would not be a B classification. It's one of most expensive areas in columbus and has great schools also. Not to mention the taxes are high.

    4Reply
  • Grant Patmon
    Investor · Columbus, OH · Member since 2014 · 73 posts · 22 votes
    10y
    Some of those areas you have classified are way off some spot on and some are just too diverse to classify that broadly. Take the hilltop for example. There is a lot of garbage real estate in the hilltop. BUT... There are also several pockets with quality housing stock. I have mostly single family homes in gentrification areas so I can really drive equity ,rents and tenant quality with a solid upscale rehab. That being said the cap rates I'm getting are going to be different than larger multi family assets. I can say to expect cap rates in the city to go down. Larger developers are building upscale apartments like crazy here (literally #3 market in the country for these luxury builds) which has saturated the market making tenants less inclined to pay top dollar for older multi family residences.
    1Reply
  • Peter Lohmann
    Property Manager · Columbus, OH · Member since 2012 · 309 posts · 275 votes
    10y

    Mostly accurate. Great starting point.

    0Reply
  • Trey Read
    Newark, OH · Member since 2015 · 28 posts · 7 votes
    10y

    Great list to start with!

    0Reply
  • Aaron Smith
    OP
    Investor · Washington, DC · Member since 2016 · 175 posts · 73 votes
    10y

    @Grant Patmon Which areas in Hilltop do you feel are gentrifying?  There is a city initiative which is trying to revitalize select areas.  Look at this: https://www.columbus.gov/development/economic-deve...

    What is your feeling about the areas on the map?  I know the are building a new library on Parsons:

    http://www.columbuslibrary.org/buildings/parsons

    But, just looking on google maps, theres a lot of pawn shops and dollar stores.

    0Reply
  • Kevin Noesner
    Investor · Dublin, OH · Member since 2015 · 80 posts · 29 votes
    10y

    This is a nice start @Aaron Smith!  Having grown up here, I would suggest similar to @Chad Miller moving Upper Arlington and Bexley to class A.  There are pockets that are B or B+ but overall it's an A.  East Franklinton is trending class B as the city already committed to a lot of improvements.  Similarly Olde Towne East is trending class B.

    0Reply
  • Aaron Smith
    OP
    Investor · Washington, DC · Member since 2016 · 175 posts · 73 votes
    10y

    @Kevin Noesner, When you say east Franklinton, do you mean east of 315?

    It seems like to me the areas that are trending higher are like you said Olde Towne East, Franklin Park area, the streets immediately bordering Bryden Rd.  What about north of Broad St and close to 71 to the east (King-Lincoln Bronzeville).

    0Reply
  • Kevin Noesner
    Investor · Dublin, OH · Member since 2015 · 80 posts · 29 votes
    10y
    Aaron Smith you are correct. Franklinton east of 315. And yes north of Broad is trending up as well as Merion Village and surrounding areas. Specifically near Children's hospital and just south of Merion Village but north of 104.
    0Reply
  • William Carroll
    Investor · Columbus, OH · Member since 2015 · 42 posts · 21 votes
    10y

    I live in Upper Arlington. Definitely A, we have the tax bill to prove it.  

    Not sure about Weiland park, i know people are trying to push this neighborhood, but it's rough in spots... anything cheap there would probably require an assumption check. 

    I second that OTE and Merion are trending B. I'm getting outbid in these neighborhoods a lot.  

    0Reply
  • William Carroll
    Investor · Columbus, OH · Member since 2015 · 42 posts · 21 votes
    10y

    I'm on a roll today so what the heck.. here's my Weiland park story: 

    MLS property seemingly under market by about $80k..... was going to offer $20k over ask. Newly renovated, 3be 2 ba, Close to Short North. No garage or rear access as the adjacent lot (a board-up) owned what should have been this property's back yard . Row homes on one side, convenience store on the other. Walked through the property in around mid day.. couldn't figure out why this thing is so cheap. Owners are in a 3 year special city redevelopment tax break, they are leaving after having bought just 1.5 years ago. Seemed like a deal... too good of a deal.

    I went to dinner that night around 7 and decided to drive by. A little busy around the row homes, lots of people standing outside the convenience store. Returned from dinner round 10:30, same thing. Pulled over on a curb for 10 minutes to observe, lots of people walking back and forth from corner store to row homes. Some guy across the street throws his empty 40oz into the trashy lot and heads to the row homes. Now we have the real story!!!

    All this traffic is probably survivable for people living in this house IF they had an escape hatch out the rear of the property. But their only way in and out was through the front, where all the corner-store / row hime traffic was. If this house was same street, same side and one block in either direction it would have been the RE deal of the year.  But no sane renter would ever be happy in this place. Even the current owners couldn't take it any longer. My guess is that some buyer would view this property in the morning when the traffic is at a minimum and think they are getting an incredible deal, not knowing the reality of the situation. 

    The point of this story is that it really has no point.... other than I'm going to do extra thorough due diligence on any future property that seems like a super bargain, especially if its on the MLS.

    0Reply
  • Aaron Smith
    OP
    Investor · Washington, DC · Member since 2016 · 175 posts · 73 votes
    10y

    Thanks for your input @Kevin Noesner, this confirms what I was thinking as well.

    0Reply
  • Joshua Springer
    Residential Real Estate Agent · Columbus, OH · Member since 2013 · 281 posts · 110 votes
    10y

    You have a couple empty spots.  I'd grade them;

    Reynoldsburg C+

    Gahanna A-

    Worthington A

    0Reply
  • Sean Perinuzzi
    Whitestone, NY · Member since 2016 · 14 posts · 5 votes
    10y

    Very informative list and replies! This is great! 

    0Reply
  • Eric SmithPro Member
    Investor · East Greenwich, RI · Member since 2016 · 48 posts · 15 votes
    10y

    Where does Broadleigh and Eastmoor fall into these areas?

    0Reply
  • Alicia ProkosPro Member
    Developer · Powell, OH · Member since 2016 · 59 posts · 44 votes
    9y

    I am not very familiar with Broadleigh and Eastmoor, but from what I hear, I would give them a C maximum.  I think they may be spotty, though, with some good pockets, especially closer to Bexley.

    I know I am replying late, but I thought you should add three areas to your list

    Powell   A

    Dublin   A

    Westerville B

    Hilliard B

    1Reply
  • Alicia ProkosPro Member
    Developer · Powell, OH · Member since 2016 · 59 posts · 44 votes
    9y

    That would be adding four areas to your list, not three.

    0Reply
  • Robert EllisBusiness Member
    Developer · Miami, FL · Member since 2014 · 3k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    9y
    Originally posted by @Aaron Smith:

    I'm compiled a list of neighborhoods in Columbus which I've classified with what I think is A,B,C,D areas. I'm curious what the average CAP rates are for multifamily properties in these areas too. That's next on my list to find out. Anyway, I'd appreciate anyone's input on if they agree/disagree with these classifications and what average CAP rates are prevalent in A,B,C, and D areas. Thanks!

    Franklinton D
    South Hilltop D
    South orchards, old oaks D
    Framingham D
    Hilltop D
    North Linden D
    Whitehall, Lowrie Brothers C-
    Olde Towne East C
    Franklin Park C
    Reynoldsburg
    King-Lincoln Bronzeville C
    Gahanna
    Old North Columbus B
    INDIANOLA TERRACE B
    Bexley Heights B
    University District B
    Worthington
    IUKA RAVINE B
    Merion Village B
    Upper Arlington B
    Weinland Park B+
    Victorian Village A
    Grandview Heights A
    Beacon Hill A
    Harrison West A
    Downtown A
    Short north/italian village A
    German Village A 

     These are way off based on demand I can tell you right now. Old North, University, Bexley, Franklin Park, Olde Towne East I would disagree. Bexley and Olde Towne are red hot. Everything is selling in these areas. Upper Arlington is red hot. You can't even get a house for asking price and in the South of Lane area they almost don't even use real estate agents anymore. Some are accurate. For my internal measure, I always said that above $100 per square foot on residential home automatically qualified as a B area in columbus. That's just me and it has worked for me. 

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    1Reply
  • Alex Kuntsevych
    Maalot, North · Member since 2017 · 22 posts · 5 votes
    9y

    Hello to all Columbus PROs, after year passed, how the mapping was changed? Some neighborhoods got the upgrade or made transition?

    @Aaron Smith would you change your initial neighborhood mapping? 

    0Reply
  • Jessie Niu
    Columbus, OH · Member since 2015 · 210 posts · 80 votes
    9y

    Agree with @Robert Ellis, some are way off, and some areas are too diverse to put one class one it.

    @Aaron Smith, my suggestion is to work with a local investment realtor who's familiar with the local market.

    0Reply
  • Ali Mahdavi
    Rental Property Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2018 · 24 posts · 9 votes
    4y
    Fun seeing this post now.... oh how times have changed...
    0Reply
  • David Bilandzija
    Lender · Venice, CA · Member since 2021 · 189 posts · 132 votes
    4y

    @Aaron Smith Thanks for putting this together.  I was immediately interested to see everyone's input, helps us all gauge classification more accurately.  

    0Reply
  • Christian Paluzzi
    Investor · Huntington Beach, CA · Member since 2018 · 29 posts · 8 votes
    4y

    @Ali Mahdavi and others, how has this list changed since the OP years ago?  Any major movers?  In reading the thread it sounded like some roughly agreed with the OP while some definitely disagreed, is there a current consensus? 

    1Reply
  • Ali Mahdavi
    Rental Property Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2018 · 24 posts · 9 votes
    3y

    @Christian Paluzzi - I would say overall every market is expanding and growing in Columbus. You can assume the A stayed the same but the D is not a C- or C. C class areas are now C+ or B-. I just mean overall with all the rehab and growth the city is seeing, all of the little markets are becoming better from my experience. I now own properties in this D class list, which are performing well (knock on wood).  

    0Reply
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