All Forum Posts by: Timothy S.

Good afternoon Cleveland REI professionals.

I flew into the city last night and I am staying at an Air BnB in Cleveland Heights. I am here to evaluate potential neighborhoods for a rental investment. I am looking to acquire a property with similar returns to one I purchased earlier this year (three unit brick rowhouse in Baltimore with purchase price of $135,000 and rents of $750/$750/$800; prior owner was behind on his bills and accepted my offer after initially listing for $175,000). 

The three questions that I have for all of you:

1. Which neighborhoods do you all see as up and coming, i.e. potentially moving from C-class to B-class over the next few years? I am looking at the Ultimate Real Estate Guide provided by James Wise as a base line and I am curious about how other investors perceive the B and C neighborhoods around here.

2. I prefer brick triplexes to get a low per unit cost and lower maintenance costs compared to siding. Are there any particular neighborhoods that have a lot of these kinds of properties?

3. Which real estate agents do you see as most helpful for an out of state investor?

Thank you all for taking the time to discuss these questions.

Thank you @Benjamin Seibert and @Ben Guttman. 

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $135,000
Cash invested: $35,000

Triplex in Baltimore, MD. Three story row house on Gwynns Falls Parkway. First and second units occupied, third floor unit vacant. Previous owner had listed for $175,000 in Feb 2019, then dropped to $150,000 in April 2019. I offered for $135,000 and my offer was quickly accepted.

I had heard good things about rental properties on Gwynns Falls Parkway from other members on this forum and decided that it would be a good investment based on those posts as well as the high rent to price ratio. Currently I get $750 and $800 from the occupied units. When the third unit is rented, the total rent will be equal to 1.74% of the purchase price.

I give credit to the realtor and lender who helped me complete this purchase. Andrea Mann has a great deal of experience helping investors find properties, and she will not push you toward properties that you are not interested in buying. I plan to work with Andrea again to find multifamily properties in Baltimore. Also, Jeff Gunther at Primary Residential Mortgage Inc was quick to provide pre-approval letters so that I could offer quickly when I found properties I was interested in purchasing.