All Forum Posts by: Brian Gallagher

I have worked with an inspector named John Cundiff on three houses  on the west side of Cleveland and have had a lot of success with him. I have a construction background so I can tell pretty quickly when someone knows their stuff. He is very knowledgeable with old homes and his reports are very detailed. He is a also an investor himself so he should be able to evaluate the property well from an out of town investors standpoint. Link to his website in below:

http://www.homewiseinspections.com/

What are you assuming for repair costs? You are probably going to need between 3-5k for that porch alone. I just did a repair like that on a lakewood duplex last year, and a lot of times you will discover a whole can of worms once you pull the porch apart, especially once the City gets involved. I hired some carpenters direct from my company and bought materials direct, and it still cost me $3500 to do mine.

The 5% in not a huge deal at the end of the day, but based on my rehab budget it could make the difference between financing the repairs with all cash and having to take out a small HELOC, so my preference is 20% down. I am debating on doing a cash out refinance in a year depending on how it appraises after repairs. Am I better off with a 10% downpayment with a 6%+ APR? I did talk to a lender that was able to do something more along those lines. My rents should bring in between $2,100 to $2,300 per month after repairs. I am buying the house for $130,000, and the ARV should be over $200k, so I would cash flow pretty well in either scenario. My goal is buy another similar type of property once this project is completed.

Thanks Caleb!

Anyone have suggestions for investor friendly lenders in Cleveland? I am having trouble getting a 20% downpayment for a duplex (most lenders I have talked through will only do 20% for single families, and want 25% for duplexes/triplexes/quads). I have mostly gone through the big mortgage companies, and have only had some limited success (most have very high rates if they drop the downpayment to 20%). I plan on buying more properties down the road, and would like to build some relationships with local lenders. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

I guess I didn’t explain it well, but if I used a partner he would certainly have to provide me with at least half the funds for downpayment/rehab.

20%, but the vast majority were at 25%. They are a lot tougher on multi family homes than single family investment properties.

No, just a through a landlord that lived nearby me.

Joe- thanks for the advice, I think that’s the direction I’m going to go.

Tyler - Lakewood, OH. You can also find similar rents in Ohio City and Tremont. I recently sold a duplex I was holding for a while that was renting out around 950 per side at 900 SF per unit. I probably under listed it based on the amount of applications I would get when I listed it. The house I am looking at has some oddball features that make it more marketable than a typical duplex (side by side, a lot of square footage, and next to a park). That being said it varies a lot from street to street in those areas so you have to do your research first. Additionally, multi family prices have skyrocketed over the past two years (which is why I sold). The price that I am getting this unit for is not common, but you can still find good deals if you are willing to take on units that need work or landlords trying to unload properties. I have lived on the west side for over 5 years so I know the area very well, and I am confident in my numbers.