Real Estate Investors Association of Greater Cincinnati

Landlords have always had the ability to woo business travelers to their rentals. 

But now that online travel agencies such as Airbnb, HomeAway, and TripAdvisor have gone mainstream, it’s easier than ever!

Let’s define a corporate rental as dwelling that’s lease directly to a company or a business traveler who has a housing allowance. If a company is paying for the rental, and not the tenant, then it’s a corporate rental. 

When a company pays their employees or contractors to work remotely, then that tenant: 1 – Will behave and not embarrass their employer

2 – Will have a binary attitude towards your rates. Either they are within their allowance, or they aren’t.

These two characteristics make business travelers the most lucrative and ideal people for your rentals.

The Opportunity

Business travelers find that with short-term corporate rentals, they are able to afford more home-like conveniences for less. They are able to cook healthier, have more privacy, and have a richer travel experience when they don’t stay at a hotel.

That’s why the trend in corporate housing is spiking. Especially when a traveler is on an assignment for 30 days or longer.

Extended stay business travelers actively search for houses and apartments to live in. Many want to live in neighborhoods and not off freeway offramps.

Now, is it possible that you could furnish a rental to accommodate corporate travelers? Could you earn hotel- ... Read More…

Note: Laws and regulations regarding the advertising, registering, and formalization of private loans vary enormously state-to-state. Generally, these rules apply to the borrower rather than the lender, but even lenders should be aware of what the laws in your state say about these transactions. Of course, this article is not intended as legal, accounting, or other professional advice. Always consult with your legal, accounting, or other professional before making any investment.  Further, nothing in this article should be construed as an offering or solicitation of a security.

          Private lending is a strategy in which even moderate-income investors can easily get involved.

          There are plenty of real estate entrepreneurs and rehabbers who want to borrow your money; if you let it be known you have as little as $20,000 to lend in most markets, someone will be right there ready to put that cash to work.

          If all goes as it’s supposed to, it’s a truly hand-off investment; you just sit back and collect checks. And the return is oh-so-much-better than other fixed-rate investments; you can expect to average around 6-8% per year total (because higher rate loans are generally also shorter term; when you loan money to a rehabber at 12% but he only uses that money 9 months a year, that still works out to 8%).

Indulge me in a fable, and see if it jibes with your current, or perhaps past, experience as a developing real estate entrepreneur:

You’re standing on a sidewalk with your nose an inch away from a brick. It’s a good brick. You’ve studied it for a while, and you’ve come to the conclusion that it’s reddish, rough, and surrounded on all four sides by parts of other bricks. You’ve looked at it long enough to decide that it’s a pretty great brick.

Someone walks by and asks, what are you doing? Looking at this brick, you reply.

Are you sure it’s a brick you’re looking at? the stranger queries. You might want to take a step back, because there’s more to see here than you think.

So, you take a step back, and you realize that he’s right: the brick you’ve been so obsessed with is just one of many. In fact, from your new perspective, you notice out of the corner of your eye that there’s also something else--a hole, with glass and wood in it. Is that important? What does it do? Should you spend any time finding out more about it?

While you’re wondering, another passerby happens along and asks what you’re doing.

I’m looking at all these bricks, and this weird opening, you explain.

No, step back: you’re looking at a wall, says your new friend. That’s a window, and it opens and closes to let air and light in, and that particular one needs to be replaced.

So, you do, and you ... Read More…

We live in an age where there’s literally information and training everywhere. From Zoom to podcasts to TikTok to YouTube to FaceBook, you can’t turn around without being exposed to the latest and greatest "wow factor" strategy or "new wisdom".

With all that success advice right at our fingertips, why is it that according to Inc. Magazine, more than 85% of people today don’t like what they do for a living? How can it be that the majority of Americans wake up every Monday morning dreading going to their place of business?

One clue is in the nature of the message that much of the modern-day success literature promotes:

• "You should be outworking everyone around you"
• "You can manifest anything you want"
• “You have all the power to control everything"
• “Being rich and unhappy is better than being broke and unhappy”
• “The purpose of a business is to be profitable”

I bet you’ve heard every one of these things, and they certainly have their attraction. But I ask you, does any of it mesh with your experience in the real world? Or have you observed, in yourself and others, that the opposite of each of these things is usually the truth?

I’ve coached many men and women over the years that have reached what most would consider “the pinnacle of success” only to wake up saying, “is this it?  Please tell me there’s more to life than this!” 

And invariably, what I found in coaching ... Read More…

If you don’t think that real estate investing is a relationship business, you haven’t been paying attention. 

It’s your connections with other investors that bring you the local knowledge, the referrals to the right professionals, the money, the partnerships, and the deals that let you prosper now, and for years to come.   

But these relationships don’t ‘just happen’ for most people. You have to be intentional about building and maintaining them, just like you’re intentional (I hope) about building a rental portfolio, or a buyer’s list, or a marketing plan.   

Cincinnati REIA exists, in large part, to provide a platform for you to find and interact with like-minded folks who can encourage and help you be successful, but you have to do your part, too. Here are some tips for the 95% of us who aren’t just natural ‘connectors’:  

1. Be intentional about your professional development. There’s no job you can have or business you can be in where your value isn’t enhanced by knowing more. 

And in real estate, that value comes in two forms: knowing more just flat out means you can do more deals and make more money but knowing more also means that you have more to offer to other your colleagues.    

Knowledge is one currency that you can share to get what you need from others, and it’s a way of offering value to other people. ... Read More…

          Way back in the mid-90s, I went to a workshop taught by the great Pete Fortunato.

          Several times during this event, he mentioned deals he’d negotiated or financed with the help of what he called “financial friends”.

          At the time, I had two thoughts about this: first, “Why does a guy who’s been in real estate for 30 years and is probably richer than Croesus need other people’s money to do deals?”.

          And second, “That’s great for him—he has decades of experience, so I bet he both knows a lot of people and is able to impress them with all the deals he’s done. I wonder how long it’ll be before some of these ‘financial friends’ find me?”

          As time has passed, and experience and observation has filled in the blanks, I’ve discovered the answers to both questions.

          First, no full-time investor EVER has enough cash to do all the deals they’ll ever find.

          At the height of my father’s real estate empire, he had $40,000 a month in positive cash flow but was still buying 2-3 houses a month—one ... Read More…

Cabinets account for a large percentage of remodeling budgets. Flippers, landlords, and homeowners, often focus on price during kitchen renovations.  Although cabinets made of different materials might look the same on the outside, what the cabinet is made from and how it is constructed, can have long-lasting implications, impacting not only aesthetics, but durability, environmental footprint and ultimate cost.

The least expensive cabinets are generally made of medium density fibreboard, MDF, an engineered product is made by breaking down hardwood and softwood residuals into fine particles, combining them with resin and wax, then applying heat and pressure.

There are several disadvantages to MDF.  Water absorption is one. MDF soaks up water like a sponge. If exposed to damp or humid environments, it can swell, losing structural integrity resulting in sagging,

MDF’s fine particles also make it difficult for screws to hold, cracking or splitting when screwed into the edge of the board. Although MDF’s smooth surface is good for painting and finishing, veneered or laminated MDF products are prone to chipping around the edges and often cannot be repaired.

Health risks are associated with MDF because it contains volatile compounds (VOC), such as urea-formaldehyde, that irritate eyes and lungs. It is important to wear a dusk mask when cutting or sanding to avoid inhaling the material. Be sure that there is good ventilation.

Although more expensive, cabin ... Read More…

Think back for a minute—what was your first thought the first time you saw one of those handwritten signs at the highway entrance? You know, the one that says, “Handyman Special Must Sale [sic] $87,000 555-5555”? Or the first time you saw a bandit sign that said, “I Buy Houses Close in 7 Days”?

Unless you happened to have encountered one of these messages for the first time after you’d already started studying real estate, your reaction was probably a mixture of:

• Suspicion (“Is this for real? Who tries to buy houses by putting a sign on a telephone pole?”)
• Confusion (“Handyman’s special WHAT? What are they trying to sale [sic] me, exactly?”)
• Mistrust (“How can they possibly buy a house in 7 days when it took my bank 45 to close?”)
• Curiosity (“Who puts these things up, agents?”)

Today, of course, you completely understand the goal of such marketing, because today you live in a bubble populated by other real estate entrepreneurs who eat, breath, and sleep deals. Now that you understand what a handyman’s special is, and that a 7-day closing is in fact possible with other people’s money, your emotional reaction is more likely to be one of jealousy (“Dang, I wish I’d put my sign there”) than of confusion.

But—and this is important—You. Are. Not. Your. Customer.

Your customer, especially your SELLER customer, is NOT familiar with the worl ... Read More…

Scope of Work: The Foundation of a Successful Rehab

“The scope of work is bigger than anybody understands, If you don’t get it right, your project will go off the rails.”

A detailed, clear scope of work ensures that contractors know exactly what needs to be done and eliminates any “I thought it would look better this way” surprises. Here’s what Ray emphasizes when creating a scope of work:

✔ List Everything: Every task, material, and finish should be outlined in detail. “If you don’t specify the grout color, don’t be surprised when your contractor picks something crazy.”

✔ Time Estimates: Define how long each part of the project should take. If a job should take 45 minutes, and your contractor thinks it’s a full-day job, that’s a red flag.

✔ Material Costs: Have a rough estimate of what things should cost. This keeps contractors from overcharging or underbidding and bailing out halfway through.

“Every hour of planning saves five to ten hours of labor and cost,” Ray stresses. “Figure things out before they become problems.”

Qualifying Your Contractor: Ask the Right Questions

Not all contractors are created equal and hiring the wrong one can lead to nightmare scenarios. Ray shared his go-to questions when vetting contractors:

• How many jobs have you done? “If a guy says he’s cut down three trees in his life, he’s not yo ... Read More…

Your credit score is a key factor that affects many aspects of your financial life, from securing a mortgage to getting favorable interest rates. Many factors can impact your score—some of which might even surprise you. Some strategies may seem counterintuitive at first, but following these steps can help improve your credit score by up to 100 points. Here’s what you need to know:

1. Keep Your Credit Card Balances Below 10% of Your Credit Limit

One of the most impactful things you can do to boost your credit score is to keep your credit card balances low. Ideally, your credit utilization ratio (the amount of credit you’re using compared to your total credit limit) should be kept below 10%. For example, if your credit limit is $1,000, aim to keep your balance under $100. When you lower your balance, you reduce your credit utilization, which can improve your credit score. Not only will paying down your balances increase your available credit, but it also signals to creditors that you manage debt responsibly.

• Do NOT Close Paid-Off Credit Card Accounts

When you pay off a credit card, you might be tempted to close the account. However, closing a credit card account—especially one that has a long history—can hurt your credit score. The reason is that your credit history length and the total amount of available credit both influence your score. By keeping the account open, you preserve the length of your credit history and avoid reducing your ... Read More…