Thoughts on Urbana for buy/hold

[Jon Blackburn]

Hi Folks,

I’ve got eyes on a property that will likely hit 2% rule after some light fixing up, in “downtown” Urbana. But I’m from Columbus area and don’t know much about Urbana. Is this a good area to be investing if you can find a property that cash flows? Does the university shutting down permanently affect things adversely?

[Robert Ellis]

Originally posted by @Jon Blackburn:

Hi Folks,

I’ve got eyes on a property that will likely hit 2% rule after some light fixing up, in “downtown” Urbana. But I’m from Columbus area and don’t know much about Urbana. Is this a good area to be investing if you can find a property that cash flows? Does the university shutting down permanently affect things adversely?

 My partner Tyrone Johnson is actually from the Logan County area of Ohio originally and his thoughts are below.


Urbana is a bit complex, small town, and the college just decided it would close its campus due to the low enrollment among a few other issues. I don't think this will make a huge impact since only about 25% of their student population was on campus anyways but it is pretty telling about the interest in the area/school.
Bellefontaine,OH on the other hand(right in the same county about 25-30 minutes away from Urbana) has seen a large amount of growth in the last 5+ years, I would look there before Urbana.