All Forum Posts by: Tristan Kelly

I'm so glad to hear you got the units rented! It is frustrating to watch them drag their feet while you are losing money on your investment. Unfortunately with the money they get from unit, they'll never be as motivated as you to get them occupied. Are you willing to share who your problematic PM was? 

Hi @Jordan Womack have you found any luck in renting out your unit? When my PM was handling the applications for my units it took months. When I finally decided to take it over myself I was able to get my units rented in less than a month. This mainly related to quick response times, following up with applicants, and flexibility around touring. My 2bd 1br was rented in less than 2 weeks last month on the SE side for 975 and I know it is not as nice as your unit!

 After my experience I would recommend the same! The area, people and marketability of the units haven't been a problem. Simply put, there are a limited amount of PMs that will operate in the area, so I ended up with poor management. Otherwise the area itself has been great! 

@Larissa Lacman unfortunately I do not yet. I scoured craigslist, the web and facebook for people to do very specific tasks. A lot of stuff I handled myself. From working with an S8 specific contractor the sentiment was that many people don't want to work on distressed properties, as they can work in nicer areas and charge more money. I'm still actively searching for a solid contractor as I eye a BRRRR in early to mid 2025

Thank you Shawn much appreciated! It has been good to be brought down to reality and realize that there will be many struggles during the process.

@Jaycee Greene I love that! Initially I didn't have a personal connection to the area and didn't know much about the city. Multiple people had some bad things to say about the area, but when I moved and realized that it was a low income area with a lot of homeowners, I was motivated to improve the property to match the effort my neighbors have put in. 

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $90,000
Cash invested: $55,000

Triplex in SE Cleveland (D+ neighborhood)

Purchased for 90 and saw 105 for valuation. 25% down plus closing costs and unit repairs has led to about 50-60k going into the deal. First year was very rough with poor property management and tenants. Stabilized in late 2024 and will be seeing about 900 in monthly cash flow.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

I wanted to start with a cheaper property I could reasonably afford and also learn from. Multifamily always made sense to me as initially I was very impatient and wanted to see a decent cashflow.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Found on Zillow during a competitive time in the market. Slightly increased the offer to quickly go under contract, but still had inspections and everything done before completing the deal.

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional loan, 25% down at ~7% interest rate

How did you add value to the deal?

Offered 3k in holding and moved quickly

What was the outcome?

Deal closed, higher valuation than purchase price. Enough immediate cashflow to balance out the mortgage, taxes and insurance.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Try to see the property yourself if you can (was out of state initially). Take the effort to solicit contractor recommendations from multiple people. Begin a maintenance schedule ASAP. Think about lead certification for Cleveland if you are purchasing in the current market.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Investor focused real estate agent was Journey Toole. Lender was Amko lending.