All Forum Posts by: Brad Clarizio

So sorry to hear that you're experiencing this (and of course, of the situation itself). 

As Christina mentioned, you'll have to go through the eviction process. Ohio is a relatively Landlord friendly state, so it shouldn't be too difficult to get it approved the first time around. 

If you need a good RE attorney that specializes in this kind of thing, feel free to reach out. 

@Jim K.- thanks again, very helpful. 

@Charlene McNamara- thanks for the advice, but we want to have this done before our first inspection so we can move forward with drywall, and if it fails (which it would because of this), we're delayed. It'll get flagged for sure. May as well be proactive. 

Thanks Jim- I do plan to call the city today as this just transpired over the weekend. 

He mentioned that I only had to do about 12-18" between the floors, and then of course standard insulation through the rest of the walls. Is that your understanding as well? I can't imagine it being too expensive for any option- it's probably about 100 feet worth of 2x4's if I did it that way. 

Hey everyone,

I am working on a major rehab in Columbus, Ohio, specifically in Old Town East for those of you that are familiar. We are just about to call in our first structural inspection so we can move forward with insulation and drywall, but an experienced rehabber friend of mine toured the property last week and called out that we need fireblock between our 1st and 2nd floor. Basically, the house does not have 2x4's blocking the 2 floors, so flames could easily shoot up the sides of the wall. He suggested 2 options:

1: go through and add fireproof 2x4's and use the fireproof spray can foam to seal them (a bit extensive- it's a very large house). 

2: use some sort of fireproof "wool"- he uses stuff made by Owen's Corning but I can't see to find it locally unless I'm commercial, which I'm not. He said he doesn't believe I can use standard fire resistant insulation, but wasn't 100% sure. 

I can't be the first person to run into this issue...what does everyone else do? Suggestions? 

Thanks,

Brad

Hey John- is this the 19th or the 17th? The distro email earlier mentioned it was Tuesday, April 17th. 

Reach out to an agent now and ask for a listing search to be set up based on your criteria. Zillow is worthless for buying a home- not bad for renting one. 

If the market is as great as Derek mentions it is in that area for rentals home, they'll go quick. Again, it goes back to  deciding what exactly you want and making a quick decision. You'll want to have all your ducks in a row and ready to make an offer on the properties you're going to tour. Otherwise, agents won't want to waste time with tours. 

If you are doing this full time, don't get a property manager. I've been managing my own properties for 7+ years WITH a full time job, where I worked 50 hours a week and travel 50 days a year. If I can do it with all that extra stuff, you can do it if you're a REI full time.

I'd also suggest getting your RE license. Do your own deals, make money on the purchase, save money on the sale. Maybe not right away, but once you learn the market, get it. 

An excellent lender is critical. My lender has made deals work that had no business working. They can be a huge roadblock or a God send. 

Hi John,

I think you first need to identify what kind of real estate investing you want to do- that term is so broad/general. Do you want to flip? Rentals? Assign contracts? Wholetail? Etc. Do you plan to get your RE license? Start with that. It'll be tough to find a mentor until you know exactly what you want to do. 

Second suggestion: make a sacrifice on commute. I'm not familiar with Belpre, but if you're 1.5 hours away and near WV, I imagine you're southeast. So, find an area that's halfway between Columbus and Belpre and get a duplex or 4-plex there. If you buy, don't waste your FHA financing opportunity on a SFH. So if you don't want to get a duplex, just rent.

I flip houses in Columbus and own a portfolio of rentals that I operate/manage myself, so feel free to reach out whenever. I have a pretty gnarly rehab going on in downtown Columbus right now that you're welcome to stop by and help. If you want to come over this weekend, I've got about 8,000 lbs of trash I'll be loading into a dumpster. We could spend 8 hours talking about RE while picking up old windows and wood trim. ;) 

Beautiful renovation, very nicely done! Curious how long it'll last on this crazy market (I'm up in Columbus where houses are going for 10-15% over list price after 1-2 days on market). 

I sincerely appreciate everyone's input here- lots to think about. A trip is definitely being planned, as I certainly wouldn't ever think to buy a property in a city I've never been to. 

Ryan- great points. While extra income will be nice, me buying a place isn't dependent on it. The reason I am targeting 200k or less is because without any extra income, I can still safely fit this into my current financial situation. So any additional income is just that- additional. 

Is anyone aware of companies that deal with managing a short term rental? Again, if I'm targeting December though March or April, I would want it to be available April-October. I don't even care if I rent it out for $500 a month, I just don't want it sitting empty. I'm sure it would attract some nice attention if it were in a good area of Scottsdale and I was only asking $50 a night on AirBnb. Who knows! :)