All Forum Posts by: Gregory Wilson

Yea, that area of Northside is just not quite there yet. That is in the City of Cincinnati so you have to comply with Cincinnati ordinances as well as Ohio landlord tenant law. I am not aware that a tenant can waive any of those. Your actual knowledge that they are living there is probably enough to hang you. You should get legal or at least property manager advice so if something bad happens it will not be a colossal problem.

The zoning of CN-P includes live work and some commercial uses.

I'd walk over to 305 Central Ave and talk to a zoning plan reviewer. Just don't explain what the current situation is.

I have a different take on credit reports. The more criteria you use for screening the more likely you are to fail to comply with applicable law and the more difficult it is for you to prove you did not discriminate. Credit score is a great example. In my locality, persons are recruited to serve as testers for landlord racial discrimination by the local Fair Housing enforcement agency. I am pretty sure they are only economically motivated since no one in Cincinnati actually discriminates based on race other than 2 and 3 family owner occupied units.

A person who has only a claim of cash income, looks like a drug addict but has a decent credit score because of not very much previous credit is rejected. The next person is well employed with a lower credit score and is accepted. You're getting an EEOC Complaint. They will offer to settle for, say $25,000.

I have to see a W-2 or pay stub and I don't care what their credit score is anyway. And, I am not going to go through the FCRA compliance procedures. If they are well employed and make 3.4 times rent as gross income, the landlord is going to get paid. A person with a 750 credit score who wants an apartment at 50% of their gross is going to default - its just a matter of time. IMO. And, persons with "cash" income are not even considered by me. God bless them, they are often wonderful waiters and hair dressers and service people and . . . . someone else's tenant.

I require proof of income 3 times rent and their statement that they have never had an eviction notice sent to them. I'm going to increase it to 3.4 times rent with my nest vacancy. No claims of cash income are accepted. They have to have a pay stub or a W-2.

Its  actually Stu Richards with an s but I think the other three are your best bets.

If this is Hamilton Couty, there are three or four lawyers who have regular dockets in the Eviction room. You have to use one of those guys or someone will be charging you for a trip to the courthouse at $250/hr and sitting around waiting for the Magistrate to get to their case instead of the $75-$150 per case that a guy who has 10 cases at a time will charge. I did an eviction docket 40 years ago. It was a hot mess.

I like Dave Donnett and Mike Hass. But Stu Richard is still plugging away. And Forest Heis has a substantial case load. Choose one of them.

$50k is not enough to make alternative financing work because even at an embarrassing interest rate the investor will only make a few thousand - not enough to justify the time, document prep, risk assessment etc.

I'd suggest that you get a realtor to put up the money, take a mortgage plus a few points of the selling price. She will know the mortgage is secure. The listing alone will be worth $10k to the listing broker.

In the Cincinnati market area, used washer and dryer sets go begging on FB Marketplace. Learn where to look for the date of manufacture and make the seller send you a photo. Only buy one that is hooked up and running. Plenty of people do not want to move them wen they relocate. Just search FB Marketplace.

It always a good idea to try to sort out the problems you are having with existing professionals first. While opinions of well meaning referral sources are helpful and I could give you names and numbers, they are also highly subjective.

I doubt there is a property manager active in Cincinnati that has not had one client sing his praises and another quit in dissatisfaction.

Not saying you are wrong, but the metrics have a local element. Some cities, you send in your rent 2 days late and you might as well include the late fee. Other places a landlord who enforces a late fee for a few days delay will get concrete down the toilet and tenants who leave chaos behind in revenge. Cincinnati is more like a small town than the big metro area it is.

Same for filling vacancies. If your manager has the rent $150 below market the unit might be filled in 2 weeks. If the rent is at or above market maybe it takes longer. Faster is not always a consequence of laziness.

I'd say see what you can do with the current manager before you jump from the frying pan into the fire.

Quote from @Edo Y.:

Hello.

We have a residential building of 3 stories and 8 units in Cincinnati. The basement level is partially finished and we would like to add 2-3 units in there. We would like to do it all legally with plans approved by the town.

Any recommendations for an architect / company that can assist us with this project? 

Also what would be a reasonable price range for this type of project? Each unit would be 400-500 sqft.

To your main question, renovation cost in Cincinnati is around $200 per square foot for everything. Renovation of fixtures and cosmetics without mechanicals about half that amount. But, a basement poses some unique issues. Unless the building is very well located full renovation of basement units will likely not pay off economically. People don't want to live in a basement. So rents will not be equal to upper units.

See what OTR ADOPT in Cincinnati has done with acquiring vacant and abandoned properties through receivership. You might get them to do all the legal work to take it and then sell it to you.