Lakewood, OH · Member since 2019 · 3 posts · 1 vote
Hello everyone!
New member here and I'm looking to hopefully buy my first double/ duplex in Lakewood, Ohio within the year to do a house hack and I'd like any input on if it makes sense to wait out the "sellers market" we've got going on right now to avoid high listing prices. Or if it doesn't matter that much since Lakewood will continue to be desirable.
New member here and I'm looking to hopefully buy my first double/ duplex in Lakewood, Ohio within the year to do a house hack and I'd like any input on if it makes sense to wait out the "sellers market" we've got going on right now to avoid high listing prices. Or if it doesn't matter that much since Lakewood will continue to be desirable.
Thank you in advance,
Ross Reinema
Don't wait to buy real estate, buy real estate and wait.
Lakewood is in the top 10 suburbs nationwide on multiple polls, I don't see it going down anytime soon. Walk-ability, housing stock architecture, very dense and popular, foodie culture, close to downtown, and more.
Only word of caution is, with the high price points comes somewhat high taxes, try to stay under $160,000.
Hi Ross. I lived in Lakewood (The Carlyle, I think) as an intern over at the Cargill mine for a summer many years ago. Lakewood is a great place to be, and I hope it does remain desirable!
I'm of the opinion that the time to invest is NOW. Trying to time the market is a fool's game. Get your money to work for you as soon as you can, whether it be real estate or the stock market, etc. I might recommend caution if I was trying to house flip, but house hacking changes the game a little bit. You need a place to live regardless of your investment strategy---so why defer that potential?
Through successful house hacking of my own home several years ago (airbnb of our upstairs bedrooms, specifically), my wife and I were able to clear about $30k of principal pre-payments as we moved to a more yuppie-fied place. Our three years of house hacking was completed in good market conditions, but had the market struggled, we still would have been happy to have defrayed our housing costs against a multitude of guests.
Ross, waiting might be a thought if you knew when the next crisis hits. But you don't! I would say the most important thing is to find a house that checks of all the desireability and location boxes. North and west are better, relatively speaking.... A side by side is rare but very sought after. A nice garage perhaps? A three bedroom vs two 2's? Look for the one that is most resistive to taking a hit if the market tanks. Even if real estate does drop a bit it should not in any way be as bad as the last time! Sooooo! Don't wait, just be selective! Good luck!
I agree with the others. We own 7 duplexes in Lakewood and are still buying. Just look for a deal, a place that can use some updates, maybe an unfinished 3rd floor were you can add value.
New member here and I'm looking to hopefully buy my first double/ duplex in Lakewood, Ohio within the year to do a house hack and I'd like any input on if it makes sense to wait out the "sellers market" we've got going on right now to avoid high listing prices. Or if it doesn't matter that much since Lakewood will continue to be desirable.
Thank you in advance,
Ross Reinema
Don't wait to buy real estate, buy real estate and wait.
Lakewood is in the top 10 suburbs nationwide on multiple polls, I don't see it going down anytime soon. Walk-ability, housing stock architecture, very dense and popular, foodie culture, close to downtown, and more.
Only word of caution is, with the high price points comes somewhat high taxes, try to stay under $160,000.
Thank you all for the insight. Many good points were made in regards to what I should look out for and how I should proceed. I guess it's time to get the ball rolling then! @Jad Boudiab $160k is definitely around the price point I'm looking at so that's nice to hear.
@Account Closed I bought my Lakewood duplex in 2015 as my first investment property. I bought it with a partner I worked with and have recently refinanced the duplex to buy him out. The market seems to be slowing down and the BP podcasts seem to imply a downturn in the market, but if you are house hacking and not trying to flip or anything does it really matter? The best time to invest in real estate was ten years ago, the second best time is NOW! Even if you dont make positive cash flow, like someone else said you still need a place to live so why not have someone else help you pay for it? The going rate from what I have seen is $1000-$1200 for a 2br/1ba depending on how nice it is. I pay about $300 to live in the top part of my duplex which is a 3br 2 bath and im converting the third floor to a master floor and in the process of demoing the bathroom. $300 to live in Lakewood is a win in my book and if you structure your deal right you can be there too and it seems like a no brainer cause its about $700 to live in one of those studio apartments in Lakewood. I would say to look at a bunch of them before you pull the trigger. Obviously the closer to Rocky River and away from the Cleveland border is much more desirable and I would stay away from Birdtown.
Hope that helped. You can DM if you have any questions. I am still a newb hah
@Mitchell Litam I totally agree, I would ideally like to find a deal that allows positive cash flow but even if I don't and end up having to only pay a couple hundred dollars for a place to live that i'm gaining equity in is not too bad of a situation to be in. Yeah, I'm planning on staying away from birdtown. Just a little too sketchy for my interests.
Thanks for the solid advice and I most likely will!