All Forum Posts by: Ryan Evans

There definitely is a lot of action there. If the price points hadn't gotten so out of hand I'd probably still be trying to work that market.

Maybe you could look at turnkey properties for your first deal. Some of them even help you finance deals. 

Don't overthink things too much. If you don't have the time/energy to manage the deals yourself, try to just get a deal done even if it's not a home run. Getting through the learning curve and getting some experience under your belt will help you pickup momentum in all kinds of ways. 

Hey @Jesse B. I moved from SEA to CLE last year to chase that sweet midwest cash flow. Feel free to give me a shout if you ever want to talk shop. I advise a few friends back there who are following suit and buying rentals out here so I get where you're coming from. 

I use Cozy and think it's great for all the basics. I self manage a portfolio o 7 units and it's definitely made my life easier. Plus, tenants like seeing some new technology since I'm in a market where property management is pretty far behind in technology.  Being able to easily text applications and setup instructions from my phone is awesome! But there are a few advanced features missing that may be crucial when I have more units. 

From my understanding, the benefits of having an LLC are going to come into play most often for structuring partnership deals and litigation arising from issues on the property. Having a good amount of liability insurance for your landlord insurance policy (not just homeowners!) is vital. I actually bump up coverage far more than needed. But if an issue arises where you're going to get sued, they will go after the most money. Unless you have a significant net worth beyond the coverage of an insurance policy, they'll go for the insurance payout over your personal assets. All the people I've asked have told me that it won't really be necessary to go the LLC route until I own maybe 10 or more properties. Though, that depends on the value as well I suppose.

I think early on, the LLC debate is one with no real right or wrong answer, it's just a different approach depending on who you ask.

@Mitchell Litam haha yeah I became an east sider by accident when I didn't know what I was doing and now there's no going back, so I guess I'll just have to stick it out over here indefinitely!v 

A single turning into a fourplex is probably going to have some major code issues and might be a bit advanced for a first time out of state midwest deal. You can submeter, but that can add up and it'll always have resale issues.  I started buying duplexes in Ohio from the west coast, but they can come with enough quirks already. 

In my area, if you need to evict, you have to prove that the property is registered as a rental with the city. I can imagine that you could have serious issues if it's an illegally converted fourplex.

@Diallo Jones have your buyers invested before? Are they local or out of state? There are a lot of tire kickers across the board, so that's part of the game, but they might just not know how the neighborhood works. If you have truly good deals, they shouldn't bee too hard to sell in this market.

My friends and I have been buying near the western border of Euclid and are open to deals in the Euclid. Our problems is finding good deals, so maybe we should chat? 

Also, do you get to any of the local meetups? 

That's great you've got a solid lease off the bat. The bar for PMs in the area seems so low that tenants will love you for even the most minor things. I've gained a tremendous amount of loyalty by just going in and making a couple of basic upgrades to set a good first impression with inherited tenants. And I've got 3 duplexes and am under contract on my second house in CLE, but I'm just investing over near Euclid so far. 

That's great to hear section 8 is working out for you. The utility issue is a bummer, but stuff like that is easy enough to work through. I'm sure it's been a good learning opportunity starting with a rehab section 8 property. 

What kind of help or resources are you looking for?