All Forum Posts by: Robert Ellis

Hi all!

My goal is to invest in 2-3 multi-family properties (duplex, 3, or quad) in the next 3-6 months with the goal of achieving good cash flow and starting a portfolio. I'd like properties with low upfront reno required in B/C class neighborhoods. I've been spending a lot of time researching investment opportunities in Cleveland and learning from all of you. About ready to pull the trigger, and then....

A friend told me to look at Columbus. At first blush, I'm intrigued by the "indicators" such as population growth, gentrification, and overall investment in the area in Columbus which seems like in addition to cashflow, could drive up appreciation. 

Would love to hear your thoughts on where to invest my time and $$ between these two. Anybody considered both and leaned one way or another? 

thanks!

Nicole

Hello All,

I have been involved with real estate for about 1.5 yrs. I bought a house which I am currently "BRRR-ING" Trying to finish the work up on it by March. The house came with two separate lots, one with the house on it, the other is empty. When I finish the house and get it re-appraised I will be looking to do something with the property (sell, lease out, build something etc). The lot is a corner lot in the Hilliard, Columbus area. Has anyone had this type of situation? I am looking for any possible guidance (I am very new to the game) in terms of what I could potentially do with the property to help me get this real estate thing rolling quickly yet efficiently.

The lot is sized for a single family residence. 

I saw a post on here a while back with practically a street-by-street rundown by someone familiar with Cleveland ranking the various neighborhoods. Anyone have or seen a list like that for Columbus? We are looking at some properties and I would like to get familiar with the neighborhoods that are up and coming vs. war zones and the in-between affordable ones.  Thanks! 

So is Nashville dead for new investors wanting to buy now? Are the regulations too strict/prices too high?

What about Austin?  Las Vegas?  Palm Springs?  Columbus?

Hello BP Community,

My name is Randy Hicks and my wife and I are interested in getting started in real estate investment. This is something that we've been committed to for a year now. We've read a lot and feel like we have the background knowledge and now it's time to take action! Must get past the point of analysis paralysis! Our goal is to have our first property by the end of the year. Our local market is a seller's market and the purchase prices, in most cases, are not bringing in rental income proportional to expenses. Even if we found an ideal property locally, we're not sure that we would want to jump into our first property at $300,000+. So we've been looking to invest out of state. We're both from originally Indiana and still have family there. That brings us to our area of interest: Indianapolis. Like many others, we're drawn to that market for the attractive income-to-expense ratios. If we're going to make mistakes- and I've heard that everybody does at first- we'd rather do it on a $80,000-$100,000 property than on a $300,000 one. 

In some sense, I'm still a newbie, but I've been on BP for several months (just finally getting around to posting a formal new member introduction!). I listen to podcasts (I'm addicted now), I've scoured the forums and have contributed where I can, and have reached out to investors in the Indianapolis market. I have been connected to an investor-friendly local agent and we have been formulating plans to acquire our first rental property. Initially, we're looking at SFH anywhere in the city that offers roughly B-class assets. Although I'm fairly handy and like getting my hands dirty on remodeling, that's not going to happen in this case as I'll be 2,000 miles away. Still, we'd like to find a property that is a candidate for the BRRRR method. Maybe that is realistic from MLS properties, maybe we need to find something outside of MLS. Either way, we'll need a local team, particularly a reliable contractor and property management.

On the bigger picture, I also need to find an investor-savvy attorney and/or a CPA to help set up business entities and systems. If anyone in the community has connections to qualified people in the Portland area, I would appreciate referrals.

Thanks,
Randy  

I remember seeing a post with a map that colorizes type of neighborhood ranking from A-F categories and warzone. Not even sure what these maps are called that break down each neighborhood.

I'm specifically looking for a map of Columbus and would love to get to know the area a bit more as this would be an OOS investment.