All Forum Posts by: Michael Wentzel

@Account Closed

All of our properties are in Pueblo, Colorado. We love the community and will likely continue to acquire there. So be sure to send me any leads you come across in Pueblo. We are cash buyers.

But we also wanted to open a second market to diversify and hopefully be in a bigger market with more inventory. It seems like Akron/ Canton might work for us.

Mike

Thanks for the great input. This thread received a bunch more input while I was at the Akron Canton REIA last night. It was a great first step to learn more about the market. I was really impressed by this REIA. I haven't seen or heard of one that is as big or as active as this one in a similarly-sized community.

@James Wise One of the reasons I was leaning towards Cleveland was all the great info you have put out about Cleveland on BP. I am an out-of-state (and often out of country) investor. So I know the property management company I choose will be key. It is good to hear you say that the team should almost come before the market. Or at least when the markets are similar, it might be the deciding factor.

@Dustin D.

I always hear on the Real Estate Guys podcast... "Live where you want to live, but invest where the numbers make sense." Find a community where you have better rent to purchase price ratios. @Brandon Turner repeats all the time that you can find cash-flow markets within an hour or two of any market in the US.

Mike

@Isaac Rowe

Thank you for the reply. I will probably do a bit more digging before I decide. I will reach out to you when I'm doing my Cleveland research.

Mike

@Zach Zimmer

Thank you for the in-depth reply.

Mike

@David Panzera

Thanks for reaching out. I had actually made a note to contact you. I'll send you a PM.

Mike

@Zach Zimmer and @Nate Richards

Thank you for the input. 

Zach, according to your profile, you hold quite a few properties. Which community are they in? Or are they spread out? Do you use a property manager? I would love to have a referral on a good property manager.

Nate, which community or communities are you in?

Back in Colorado, I have generally bought run-down properties, managed the renovations with contractors and then turned the properties over to professional property management. It has taken time to find good contractors and get the system in place. Then I refinance part or all of my money back out using a portfolio lender. It is a classic BRRRR strategy.

In these three communities, the properties are cheaper, but the taxes are higher. And I'm not sure I will get much jump in value with the renovations. I have also purchased mainly in B and C class areas. Are either of you guys in B or C class properties?

Mike

We have a portfolio of properties in Colorado and we're looking to start buying properties in a second market in Ohio. My wife and I are both from Ohio, so we often end up back there for visits. We like the possibility for cash-flow properties and we like the Midwest. I was initially looking at Cleveland or Columbus. Both seem intriguing, but both are huge and might take a bit of time to get my mind around. So before I decided which one, I became distracted with this little group of markets in northeast Ohio...

Akron is smaller than Cleveland and bit farther south. Beyond that is Canton, which is smaller than Akron and a bit farther south. Finally you have Massillon which is a bit smaller still and a bit west of Canton. All seem to have similar price points for properties and I would assume the rents are similar. 

Are there any investors involved in these markets who knows why I should choose one over the other two? Or why should I be in one these markets rather than Cleveland or Columbus which are bigger?

Mike

@Perry Ivy

Thank you for starting a good discussion.

We have really started aggressively acquiring properties in the last three years. We have managed to reach 17 properties in three years. But we have also seen our debt soar. We are at about $700,000 in debt among banks and private lenders. The good news is that we have over a million dollars in property, so our equity is about $300,000. We also should have really healthy cash flow once all the properties come online. Our focus between now and the end of the year is to build 6 months of mortgage payments in cash reserves and to refinance to get some of our payments down.

Mike

@Monica McGrath

We setup our Colorado LLC ourselves. We just went online and registered with the state for about $50 I believe. We also took a generic Articles of Organization and modified it. Then our property manager asked for an EIN number (tax number). It took about another 30 minutes I believe.

I am looking to setup an LLC in Egypt and is probably going to take months and cost thousands of dollars. So enjoy the ease of doing business here in the US. The United States is far from perfect, but there are certainly things to be grateful for as well.

Mike