Rental Property Investor · Castro Valley, CA · Member since 2011 · 81 posts · 17 votes
Hello BP ! I am planning to buy a duplex or triplex to house hack in and need some ideas on the location. I am considering the following areas mostly because of the low price points they offer. Toledo, Akron, Canton, and Youngstown Ohio. And also Pittsburgh Pa metro area. My price range is between $50k to $150k. I will live in one of the units. It can not be a fixer and must be move in ready or maybe it just needs a little paint because I am not that handy and I don’t want to mess with fixing stuff.
I am also thinking about furnishing one of the units and making it a medium term rental for travelling nurses. My question is which location is best and also if a property priced this low can it still qualify for a medium term rental ! If you have any advice or experience, I would appreciate the help. Thanks.
Rental Property Investor · Canton, OH · Member since 2018 · 59 posts · 77 votes
3y
We have 6 duplexes in the Canton area, I stick to 4 school districts: Perry, Plain, North Canton and Jackson. The latter two are definitely out of your price range. You can probably find an up/down duplex in Perry or Plain townships for $150k or less, especially now that the market is softening. My advice would be to stay out of Canton LSD even though it will look extremely affordable, you probably won’t want to live there.
Property Manager · Member since 2022 · 196 posts · 125 votes
3y
Love to see you getting into a house hack. Im not versed well in those geographic locations well so someone else will have to provide insight to you.
In terms of the rental theres a few perspectives... The less units you have the easier the management of it but the higher the risk. A duplex with a unit vacant becomes a tougher mortgage to cover. More units are harder to manage but theres less risk. A triplex or quad with a vacant unit still has cashflow coming in to cover a mortgage.
Another thing, when getting your loan the lender will most likely qualify it on a long term rental price. They will be more interested in how the house debt services based on those numbers, not based on the upward potential that a STR or MTR would offer. So when running numbers you have to make sure the math works with all the units as a long term rental so that the lender feels comfortable with your ability to satisdfy the loan.
Rental Property Investor · Canton, OH · Member since 2018 · 59 posts · 77 votes
3y
We have 6 duplexes in the Canton area, I stick to 4 school districts: Perry, Plain, North Canton and Jackson. The latter two are definitely out of your price range. You can probably find an up/down duplex in Perry or Plain townships for $150k or less, especially now that the market is softening. My advice would be to stay out of Canton LSD even though it will look extremely affordable, you probably won’t want to live there.
We have 6 duplexes in the Canton area, I stick to 4 school districts: Perry, Plain, North Canton and Jackson. The latter two are definitely out of your price range. You can probably find an up/down duplex in Perry or Plain townships for $150k or less, especially now that the market is softening. My advice would be to stay out of Canton LSD even though it will look extremely affordable, you probably won’t want to live there.
Hello BP ! I am planning to buy a duplex or triplex to house hack in and need some ideas on the location. I am considering the following areas mostly because of the low price points they offer. Toledo, Akron, Canton, and Youngstown Ohio. And also Pittsburgh Pa metro area. My price range is between $50k to $150k. I will live in one of the units. It can not be a fixer and must be move in ready or maybe it just needs a little paint because I am not that handy and I don’t want to mess with fixing stuff.
I am also thinking about furnishing one of the units and making it a medium term rental for travelling nurses. My question is which location is best and also if a property priced this low can it still qualify for a medium term rental ! If you have any advice or experience, I would appreciate the help. Thanks.
You could find a fixer in Pittsburgh in a C class neighborhood in this range but if you’re looking for something turnkey that will be tough.
Unfortunately, each school district is not necessarily its own ZIP Code or ”city” so it’s tough to filter on some platforms.
However, every MLS listing will report within which school district a property is located. Any agent can set up a drip e-mail campaign for you filtered by school district.
Real Estate Agent · OH · Member since 2021 · 347 posts · 602 votes
3y
I'd consider looking at Dayton if you're flexible with your location. If you like small towns, Washington Court House is smart to look at too. It's near where the new Honda Battery plant will be located.
Investor · Austin, TX · Member since 2021 · 9k+ posts · 5k+ votes
3y
Look into Killeen Texas, we are a strong market and it is easy to cash flow if you house hack. Working a deal right now with a clients, two homes on one lot for 169k
Hello BP ! I am planning to buy a duplex or triplex to house hack in and need some ideas on the location. I am considering the following areas mostly because of the low price points they offer. Toledo, Akron, Canton, and Youngstown Ohio. And also Pittsburgh Pa metro area. My price range is between $50k to $150k. I will live in one of the units. It can not be a fixer and must be move in ready or maybe it just needs a little paint because I am not that handy and I don’t want to mess with fixing stuff.
I am also thinking about furnishing one of the units and making it a medium term rental for travelling nurses. My question is which location is best and also if a property priced this low can it still qualify for a medium term rental ! If you have any advice or experience, I would appreciate the help. Thanks.
Hey Joe! I grew up in the Youngstown area and invest there. It's a fabulous place to live. I house hacked a single family home for 3 years, and we are currently transitioning our long-term rentals to medium-term rentals. I can help with any questions about house hacking, Youngstown, or getting financing for your house hack.
Hello BP ! I am planning to buy a duplex or triplex to house hack in and need some ideas on the location. I am considering the following areas mostly because of the low price points they offer. Toledo, Akron, Canton, and Youngstown Ohio. And also Pittsburgh Pa metro area. My price range is between $50k to $150k. I will live in one of the units. It can not be a fixer and must be move in ready or maybe it just needs a little paint because I am not that handy and I don’t want to mess with fixing stuff.
I am also thinking about furnishing one of the units and making it a medium term rental for travelling nurses. My question is which location is best and also if a property priced this low can it still qualify for a medium term rental ! If you have any advice or experience, I would appreciate the help. Thanks.
Why not buy one that needs some work in one unit and the other is turnkey and hire a contractor to fix the other unit(s) then refi with the new ARV?
Real Estate Agent · Southern California · Member since 2019 · 681 posts · 281 votes
3y
@Joe Gilroy if you havent already I would find a investor friendly agent that can guide you to an area and a deal! In my experience the best person to help you on your investing career would be a good agent!
Hello BP ! I am planning to buy a duplex or triplex to house hack in and need some ideas on the location. I am considering the following areas mostly because of the low price points they offer. Toledo, Akron, Canton, and Youngstown Ohio. And also Pittsburgh Pa metro area. My price range is between $50k to $150k. I will live in one of the units. It can not be a fixer and must be move in ready or maybe it just needs a little paint because I am not that handy and I don’t want to mess with fixing stuff.
I am also thinking about furnishing one of the units and making it a medium term rental for travelling nurses. My question is which location is best and also if a property priced this low can it still qualify for a medium term rental ! If you have any advice or experience, I would appreciate the help. Thanks.
I only recommend furnished rentals if you're going higher end. $50k price point for a furnished rental is gonna be a total disaster.
Rental Property Investor · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2022 · 33 posts · 23 votes
3y
Hi Joe Definitely consider an FHA owner occupied loan where you only need to put 3-1/2% down!
Also, join the Facebook MTR rental group "Grow and/or Start Your Mid-term Rental Business." Fabulous wealth of MTR information. Christian, the founder of the group is an EXPERT on MTRs and has many of them.
Hello BP ! I am planning to buy a duplex or triplex to house hack in and need some ideas on the location. I am considering the following areas mostly because of the low price points they offer. Toledo, Akron, Canton, and Youngstown Ohio. And also Pittsburgh Pa metro area. My price range is between $50k to $150k. I will live in one of the units. It can not be a fixer and must be move in ready or maybe it just needs a little paint because I am not that handy and I don’t want to mess with fixing stuff.
I am also thinking about furnishing one of the units and making it a medium term rental for travelling nurses. My question is which location is best and also if a property priced this low can it still qualify for a medium term rental ! If you have any advice or experience, I would appreciate the help. Thanks.
I only recommend furnished rentals if you're going higher end. $50k price point for a furnished rental is gonna be a total disaster.
Hi Joe Definitely consider an FHA owner occupied loan where you only need to put 3-1/2% down!
Also, join the Facebook MTR rental group "Grow and/or Start Your Mid-term Rental Business." Fabulous wealth of MTR information. Christian, the founder of the group is an EXPERT on MTRs and has many of them.
We have 6 duplexes in the Canton area, I stick to 4 school districts: Perry, Plain, North Canton and Jackson. The latter two are definitely out of your price range. You can probably find an up/down duplex in Perry or Plain townships for $150k or less, especially now that the market is softening. My advice would be to stay out of Canton LSD even though it will look extremely affordable, you probably won’t want to live there.
Are you confusing Canton Local schools with Canton City schools? If not, how does Canton South differ from Perry Local?
We have 6 duplexes in the Canton area, I stick to 4 school districts: Perry, Plain, North Canton and Jackson. The latter two are definitely out of your price range. You can probably find an up/down duplex in Perry or Plain townships for $150k or less, especially now that the market is softening. My advice would be to stay out of Canton LSD even though it will look extremely affordable, you probably won’t want to live there.
Are you confusing Canton Local schools with Canton City schools? If not, how does Canton South differ from Perry Local?
Yes I should have differentiated between Canton LSD vs Canton city. I never have, but I would at least consider investing in Canton South… whereas I don’t see myself ever investing in Canton City unless there are significant changes in the area.
As for the difference between Perry and Canton South, I consider Perry schools a little higher caliber and I would probably want at least a little bit of a discount for an equal property in Canton South vs. if it were in Perry. Also, I haven’t researched this, but when I started investing, a realtor told me that Canton South has open enrollment, where as Perry Plain North Canton and Jackson require students to live in the district so it keeps both home values and rent a little higher since those are all desirable districts.
Do you live or invest in Canton South? I’d love to hear your opinion on this, you have me interested in exploring potential opportunities there.
We have 6 duplexes in the Canton area, I stick to 4 school districts: Perry, Plain, North Canton and Jackson. The latter two are definitely out of your price range. You can probably find an up/down duplex in Perry or Plain townships for $150k or less, especially now that the market is softening. My advice would be to stay out of Canton LSD even though it will look extremely affordable, you probably won’t want to live there.
Are you confusing Canton Local schools with Canton City schools? If not, how does Canton South differ from Perry Local?
Yes I should have differentiated between Canton LSD vs Canton city. I never have, but I would at least consider investing in Canton South… whereas I don’t see myself ever investing in Canton City unless there are significant changes in the area.
As for the difference between Perry and Canton South, I consider Perry schools a little higher caliber and I would probably want at least a little bit of a discount for an equal property in Canton South vs. if it were in Perry. Also, I haven’t researched this, but when I started investing, a realtor told me that Canton South has open enrollment, where as Perry Plain North Canton and Jackson require students to live in the district so it keeps both home values and rent a little higher since those are all desirable districts.
Do you live or invest in Canton South? I’d love to hear your opinion on this, you have me interested in exploring potential opportunities there.
I have a rental in Canton City, I don't plan on having any others there though. I actually currently live in Canton South now. With the intention of renting out my house when I move. I don't know if CS still has open enrollment, they do have a brand new high school and middle school. So It wouldn't surprise me if they did to boost enrollment in an otherwise smaller community. If I could, I would focus solely on investing in Canton South because of the new schools and the community has the "home town" feel that makes people stay longer. And rents seem to be great for investors. For example, my 2 bed, 1 bath home should rent for nearly $1200 a month, based on the last time I checked.
Rental Property Investor · Massillon, OH · Member since 2017 · 215 posts · 168 votes
3y
Perry & Canton South both have open enrollment. Although Perry has about double the enrollment both are rated about the same.
Canton Twp has a lot of good things going for it, a solid area to invest. I've bid on a few down there but haven't hit on anything yet. I'm mainly in Perry, Massillon, and Canton.