All Forum Posts by: Stone Jin

 If you can find a good deal it doesn't matter what the taxes are.  Just build them into your model.  If you find a house for $1000, it rents for $1000 a month, does it really matter if taxes are $600 a month?

@Stephen Brown

You can house hack and live for free too

We own a house up there and rent it out full time. There is a lot of demand and limited supply but the returns are about the same as you would find in Phoenix metro. 

@Joey Copper 

I guess I would be a hybrid.  We self manage both locally and out of state, however also use the service of 2 property managers in markets that I did not want to manage.

I self manage probably 10 x the number of doors as I have outsourced.  My opinion is that good PM is worth the price.  One market I pay 13% to the PM, she's awesome, so I'm happy to pay.  Another market I pay 10%, he's okay but I'm considering taking those properties back over as I self manage in that market now.  The number of hours day to day is minimal, most of my time spent on property management is during acquisitions and turns.  The maintenance is easy as I outsource all of it, tenant texts me, I text a specialist and they send me a bill.  

The amount of money I earn by acting as the PM can afford me a new car every 6 months, though I still drive my used 2005 Nissan Titan :)

 Yeah $3200 a year in taxes is pretty average for houses between 100-150K.  A lot of my properties have taxes in the 4000-5500 annually range.  That the major reason a lot of investor do NOT invest in the suburbs.  They can get a house in Toledo proper and have taxes under 800 a year.

You're right, there are plenty of people who invest for appreciation.  However, in this particular case, Toledo area is not known for an appreciation market.  Most investor who invest in the area do it for cashflow.  Based on those assumptions, the deal is no good.  

I'm not sure what you are looking at but larger or 4bedroom properties are fine if the returns are better.  I would prefer 4bed rentals in the suburbs as there is no supply.  Currently on Trulia for Perrysburg there are 4 4bed houses with lowest rent being $1850 for a weird small furnished house, all others are $2100+.  If you can find a 4bed for under 200K with good appeal, you will be at 1% rule with A class property.  

Also why wait to house hack?  To me if would seem the most logical path as you can buy cashflow with 3% down and then continue to look for rentals.  

@Stephen Brown My advice is to try to find a property where the rent is $1800.  Check your numbers with a property like that.  In the suburbs, the low rent stuff is just destroyed by the taxes.  I've found that the higher the rent the better the return in the suburbs.  

@Stephen Brown That's not a good deal.  I believe @Andrew R Lee is selling a 4plex on MLS right now and those numbers work better. Take a look as you can house hack a 4 unit with 3% down.

@Aaron Bashore Rising population and rising prices are generally good things when it comes to investing.  We invest in the Toledo area and have found good success in the suburbs where there are very few rentals and high owner occupancy.  

When we evaluate a deal we never look at appreciation, we treat it like gravy when it does occur.  If the pure cash on cash returns satisfy your criteria, then you should investigate further.  If it doesn't then you will need to decide if you want to speculate on appreciation.  

I've spent some time in northern Cinci near Sharonville and really enjoyed the Mason area for food and entertainment.