Where to Invest? Why Cleveland/Akron?

Situated on Lake Erie, the greater Cleveland and Akron area comprise of approximately 3 million people. Many Universities including Kent State, Akron and very prestigious schools like Case Western and John Carroll call Northeast OH their home. 3 professional sports, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Football Hall of Fame and Cedar Point the world’s best rated amusement park are all in or not too far of a drive.

During the boom, home values did not sour like many areas out West and in Florida. They stayed fairly stable and with all the foreclosures, there are plenty of distressed properties to cherry pick from. Cleveland seems to have a bad reputation. Located right on Lake Erie, having potential to be a huge metropolis, Cleveland has been dubbed the nickname “Mistake by the Lake”. Also, the City of Cleveland ranks poorly in poverty levels mainly because East Cleveland which makes up a large percent of the population of the Cleveland city limits is a giant warzone. However, including the suburbs and entire metro area they rank just fine. Many people are scared away by this reputation and reports, but that just lowers the competition leaving tons of tremendous opportunities for the savvy investor.

Many of the homes were built in the early 1920s and are in need of repairs. Cosmetic fixers can be had at extreme discounts. In fact, I am the only offer on a property right now and will be in about 20K. While it is not in an extremely desirable suburb, the rents will be around $1000 and it is not a warzone. That is some incredible cash flow.

Buy and hold is usually the best strategy, good flips can sometimes be found around 60-120K in with ARVs of 100-200K. Best of all these properties rent for $750-1500 so it is easy to fix them up and rent them for positive cash flow. Multiple exit strategies are realized that provide tremendous back up plans and minimize risk and losses.

To summarize, Cleveland and Akron have very little competition, plenty or prospects, the lowest chance of depreciation according to the PMI Risk Index of cities with population 500K or more and you can achieve multiple exit strategies. Savvy investors with a good strategy can clean up in Northeast Ohio!!