Ohio a good place to buy then rent out?

[dbassett74]

Seems like Ohio has pretty low prices still and prices are actually falling due to over-supply.  What are rents going for like in the Clevland and surrounding areas?  I live in California so I really need to buy something that's ready to rent out.  I've seen some rediculously low prices in Clevland, at least compared to So Cal prices.  I have about 200k equity in my house and really want to do something with it, like purchase a few income properties.  Is it un-realistic to purchase properties out of state?  Any advice would be appreciated.

[amusedtwinkle]

I live in So. Cal and am currently looking @ other states to invest in,   Any suggestions on good cities and/or states for rentals?? regarding owning properties in other statesI would suggest just making sure you get a good property management co.  

[carlosguti]

I came online today, to ask this very question.
Is it recommended to invest in out of state properties, It has proven very difficult to find a property in Illinois to make a positive cash flow.

[dbassett74]

My thought is that to get a positive cash flow, you need to purchase in a buyer's market to take advantage of lower prices.  I know Ohio is one such place right now.

[carlosguti]

I will look at Ohio then, thanks

[propertymanager]

Hey Guys,

I'm right here in Ohio, I have experience, and I'd be happy to help!  It's easy to invest 3,000 miles away.  Send me a BIG check and I'll buy you a bunch of properties for 70 cents on the dollar.  You hire a management company and when you're ready to cry uncle - I'll even buy them back from you (for 40 cents on the dollar)!!!  

It's already happening.  We L O V E California Buyers!!!

Mike

[carlosguti]

Mike im in Illinois.. Not 3000 miles im right next door!

[dbassett74]

Hey Guys,

I'm right here in Ohio, I have experience, and I'd be happy to help!  It's easy to invest 3,000 miles away.  Send me a BIG check and I'll buy you a bunch of properties for 70 cents on the dollar.  You hire a management company and when you're ready to cry uncle - I'll even buy them back from you (for 40 cents on the dollar)!!!  

It's already happening.  We L O V E California Buyers!!!

Mike

Not sure if you're being serious or not.  Is this really happening??

[star]

Hi everybody,

If you are interested in investing in a property in Ohio, please send me an email.  I am currently investing in Ohio and I live in California.  I have a partner who finds the deals, handles the repairs and the sale afterward.  I am the money person.  We split profit 50/50.  It just depends on what you want to do.  He will also just flip property to you and you deal with repairs and sale and so forth.  

He has a good deal right now if anybody is interested .

Thanks!

[propertymanager]

dbasset,

Yes, I was being serious.  We do have a LOT of California buyers here already (we jokingly call them the VICTIMS).  They've been watching too much late night TV and actually believe that they can buy a house long distance, sight unseen, have an unseen manager take care of it.  Then, they just sit back and collect the checks.  It would be funny if it weren't so sad.  

Here's what typically happens.  The VICTIMS buy a house without ever seeing it (except in pictures) and they get a small discount (maybe 80% ARV).  The house needs a lot more repairs than they saw in the pictures.  The VICTIM hires a property manager who charges 10% of the gross rent, which is more than 30% of the positive cash flow.  They can't rent the house as-is and after they get jerked around by a terrible contractor, they can't afford to finish the rehab.  I buy the house at the sheriff's sale at half what they paid for it .(thank you for doing most of the rehab).  OR they actually get the house rented and after the crackers have destroyed the house the second time, I buy it for 50% of what the VICTIM paid.

People are SOOOOOOOO gullible.

It is VERY difficult to manage property if you live 5 minutes away.  It is nearly impossible to find a property manager that will do it as well as you could.

The only thing that I could think of that would be crazier than doing the above would be to send your money to someone that you don't know but just met on an internet website.  How many of you guys contacted Star?  There's a sucker born every minute.

Mike  

[star]

Gee, Mike, thank you for the compliment.  You have such a nice personality. I will remember to hire you and send you a "big check" when I become desperate.  Make sure you provide us with your management company name so all us "suckers" who read these posts everyday to network and make our connections via the internet know who to call when our investments fail, after all im sure all of us will fail to do our due diligence,  use contracts, background checks, etc.

You are soooo smart, what would we do without you!

[dbassett74]

dbasset,

Yes, I was being serious.  We do have a LOT of California buyers here already (we jokingly call them the VICTIMS).  They've been watching too much late night TV...

I appreciate the insight.  I could definitely see this happening because us Californians have tons of equity in our houses.  We want to invest, but can't invest in anything locally because everything is too expensive.  It's VERY discouraging that I can't seem to do anything with my loads of equity.  I really want to invest in something, but there is just no way I can invest in anything within 500 miles of where I live.  It's just TOO expensive.  So I just thought that Ohio might be a good place.  But, as your post pointed out, it isn't quite that simple.  Story of my life, I guess I'll just let my equity rot away as the bubble begins to burst and continue working a crappy 9-5 job the rest of my life.... So depressing... :-[

[propertymanager]

dbassett,

Did you ever think of moving?  If your goal is truly to invest in real estate, why not move to where the investing environment is what you need?  I'm convinced that the vast majority of the country (flyover country) has excellent opportunities for investing.  You could sell here near the top and re-invest in a new area.  

I didn't elaborate earlier, but there is a house right across the street from one of my rentals that is owned by a California investor.  I've already tried to buy it once, but he wasn't desperate enough.  I think that a family member is "managing" it or perhaps "not managing" it would be a better way to say it.  It has a wrap around porch on the roof.  At any rate, the windows are broken out, the dog was living on the roof, and one day an entire toilet flew out the upstairs window and landed on it's new home on the lawn, where it stayed for a month.  The facia is falling off the porch and the grass was a foot high for over a month.  I tried to buy it for $20K but the owner still wants $40K (as I recall he paid $50K - ARV is 60K).  I still expect to get it, but it will take a little more time.  In my experience, this is typical of out of state investors.  In fact, out of state investors are one of the criteria I use to target motivated sellers.

Good Luck,

Mike    

[dbassett74]

Wow, that was definitely some entertainment right there!  I appreciate you telling it like it is.  No sense in sugar coating it like they do on those late night informercials.  That's sorta like that COPS show.  My uncle who is in law enforcement says it's completely sugar coated, you don't see the REAL crap that goes on behind the scenes.  Same situation here.  Those late night informercials show examples of people buying things for $500 and selling for $1500, but they don't tell you it took $5,000 worth of repairs!

Any who, at least I've gained a whole new perspective on this before I dive into it.  It's not that I don't want to do it, but I definitely will think twice about how to go about doing it.  I have always been one to want to do things myself, if I could.  I can't remember the last time I was even remotely satisified with the work that a so-called professional has done for me.  I had a new HVAC system installed in my house and it was a complete disaster.  The unit wasn't even level so the water didn't drain properly.  It took me all of 5 minutes to put some shims in there and level it.  But it's crap like this that can turn into a disaster.

Have thought about moving, but I love it too much where I'm at.  I probably wouldn't mind moving for several months at a time but still keep my house in Cali.  Do you think it would be realistic to move temporarily into the house that I'm rehabbing so that I can control the whole project and then find a good property manager to just collect the rents while I'm back in Cali?  Or do you think it's critical that I live near my rentals?  I guess I could always just flip and not rent...

[dbassett74]

BTW, are there plenty of Home Depots or Lowes out there?? Are material prices pretty good?  I'm very spoiled here in Cali where we have everything we need within a 1 mile radius.