Moving to downtown Cleveland (Lakewood, Richfield: real estate, rentals, condominium)

[psdc]

We're looking at a 3-year sojourn to Cleveland. We'd like something urban and were considering renting/buying a condo in one of the downtown areas - Warehouse Dist, Tremont, Ohio City. We're both professionals in our late 30s, no children. I've read a lot of interesting threads on this forum, but most of them relate to families with children or people in their 20s. A few questions for those of you who know the city better -

1. How bad is the communte from downtown to Richfield?
2. I will have to travel frequently and would like to take the metro to the airport...how feasible and safe is that?
3. If we do buy we are concerned about the resale/rental value of the condo when we leave...any thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

[CJ_Triv_KellerWilliams]

Im a realtor and my office is downtown so I actually work with a lot of people in a similiar situation.

1. I live in Lakewood and my roomate actually commutes to Richfield for work everyday, the drive can be 15-30 minutes. He never complains about it.

2. The airport is not that far. You can take a cab or the RTA. Either way it's going to be approximately 15-20 minutes.

3. And this one can be tricky...it will totally depend on where you live and the price range you are looking at. The good thing about Cleveland right now is that you can buy at a low price, but when you want to move in a few years the market will be much higher, creating instant equity. Also, most of the time when people own condos and rent them, they rent very quickly just because the quality is much better then the rentals in town. But if you charge too much for rent, you may have some issues finding a renter, so if you're buying, I wouldn't go to high in price.

If you have any questions or just want to take a peek at a few places, I would love to help! My contact info is in my profile.

[llowllevellowll]

Originally Posted by psdc

1. How bad is the communte from downtown to Richfield?
2. I will have to travel frequently and would like to take the metro to the airport...how feasible and safe is that?
3. If we do buy we are concerned about the resale/rental value of the condo when we leave...any thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

1. The commute is opposite-rush hour so while it may take 20-30 minutes to get there, you shouldn't have traffic.

2. Not sure, sorry.

3. Your re-sale can't be much worse than it is now, so if you're buying now, I'd think you'd atleast break even on your investment in three years, if you believe we're anywhere near close to rock bottom.

I'm of the opinion that an urban-condominium is one of the best future investments to make because some Americans have and will be changing certain lifestyle habits, one being that suburban sprawl will be slightly reduced in favor of better urban planning - simply put, living close to the urban sector is/will be much more popular than it was a decade ago.

My only question would be whether 3 years ownership would be enough to make the investment worth it for you. Typically in the U.S. (though dependant on the market), 7 years is the ideal amount of time to hold on to a real estate investment to begin to see positive cash flow on re-sale. You might also look into the feasibility of renting the condo once you depart after 3 years.

P.S. The real estate guy's advice above me is good advice in general, but his statement that in three years the market will bounce back and you'll have a lot of equity is solely conjecture. This conjecture shouldn't be why you purchase. No one, including him, has any real, tangible evidence that the housing market will be back in 3 years. In fact, it won't be. Should it be better? Yes, and I believe it will, but not to the point that some want you to believe.

PM if you have anymore questions.

[Peregrine]

Originally Posted by psdc

2. I will have to travel frequently and would like to take the metro to the airport...how feasible and safe is that?

Since no one really commented on this: couldn't be safer. Taking an RTA train is ideal. Easy from downtown and easy from a lot of neighborhoods. The way to go if you live near a station. Less then $3.

[costello_musicman]

Here are my answers:

1) Probably 35-45 min most days (mostly be "reverse rush hour," so maybe even faster...it more of just getting out of Downtown before the heavy traffic hits)

2) If you live Downtown, Ohio City, or Tremont...the Airport would be easy. The Red line rapid train connects right into the CLE airport terminal.

3) Downtown and Tremont for sure seem to fair better than the surrounding areas in holding prices. For example, the recession didn't effect home prices much there, except maybe new condo/home construction.