I am surprised to be reading that $200/door is difficult to get in the Cleveland area. I don't know how you guys calculate your monthly returns per door (Like, do you just account for PITI, or also add expected depreciation, etc? Do you subtract expected capex? Is there a standard that each of you knows for a fact that all others are adhering to when discussing the dollar figure with the others here?) To me, in any case, the dollar figure is ambiguous because it will vary by the purchase price, downpayment, interest rate, local tax variances between towns/counties, etc.
In my own experience of buying in a Cleveland suburb with 8+ school ratings (not a D class neighborhood) back in 2016, I got more than $200 per door - after accounting for PITI, before any capex, and self-managing. But I don't calculate my potential profit that way to begin with. Instead, I aim for a 1%+ monthly return. So, for an easy example: a $100,000 purchase should gross me $1,000 or more in monthly rent. A couple of people above referred to "The 1% Rule" already.
I haven’t looked at buying anything in the Cleveland area since last summer - and actually ended up getting better deals elsewhere then. But I do believe that good deals can still be had today.
In fact, looking at an email I received from a turnkey provider (who does not appear to have any presence on this site) there back in March of this year, she was selling SFRs in Parma, Parma Heights, Cleveland (44102), South Euclid, and University Heights at the time. The prices for these ranged from $85,000 to just under $127,000 (and these are just asking prices.) Her pro-forma showed “estimated gross monthly cash flow conventional financing” ranging from $271/mo to $344/mo on these properties - after accounting for 3% for vacancy, 3% for maintenance, and 8% for management. While I am too tired to figure out what interest rate she was assuming and what downpayment (she did not list these metrics,) all these properties are right around the 1% rule.
Having dealt with “turnkey” providers in other markets (I have no experience with any of those in the Cleveland area,) I’ve learned to find my own agents, who do nothing but represent buyers and sellers. You tell them what kind of schools you want, price/rent ratio, etc. They work for you. Just don’t forget to buy something from them at some point - only way they make money, not on managing your rentals.
I found my own agent in the area, while doing my own research on Zillow. She has a narrow specialty in a narrow geographic area of the Cleveland suburbs. And I am ok with her “limitations.” I quickly learned to trust her.
Back in 2016, my first property there, a duplex, was yielding 1.2% right off the bat. To put it into dollars: when accounting for my PITI (and nothing else,) I was pocketing just over $300/mo per door of that duplex. But I also knew (when I bought) that the rent had not been increased in a long time. By now, I get $487.50/door - a 1.575% monthly return. Again, I self-manage. This was not a turnkey, but an estate sale, the sellers of which quietly let a few people know they were willing to let it go for quite less than the asking price on the MLS at that time, after not an offer in months. My agent happened to be in the know.
Not long after this purchase, I bought another, much newer, duplex in the same suburb, after it had been sitting on the market for close to a year. I was getting about $650/door, after accounting only for PITI. I am making $687.50/door two years later. Though, if either of the current tenants moves out, I may go back down to the original return (this property is at the upper level of the market, and new builds are still coming on.)
Both of these properties were bought with 25% down, 30yr conforming.
Figure out what you want (city, type of property, approximate purchase price, price/rent ratio, age, level of acceptable deferred maintenance, etc.) and tell the agent(s). There is a chance that you may get an agent who will throw everything under the sun at you as a “great deal.” Assuming that your research on the area is right, keep to your “musts,” which will also let the agent know that you are a serious investor whose time they should no longer be wasting until they really have a great deal.
Keep in mind that Ohio property taxes vary widely from town to town, and some are just nuts, so choosing the city(ies) in the area should be your first step.
