This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

House Hunt: Hillcrest Open Houses This Sunday

Housing prices may be down, the rental market is strong

It is no surprise that the housing market in Hillcrest and in the rest of the country, is weak. We are seeing house prices below what they were prior to the run-up in 2005-2007. But an area that doesn't get much attention is the rental market. In northeast Ohio, and across the country, rents have been stable and in some areas increasing.

One prevailing opinion is that many people cannot qualify for a mortgage due to the more stringent qualifying standards set by the banking industry. The other thought is that people are waiting for the bottom of the market before they make a purchase. 

Investors, however, are taking this down market with historically low interest rates, to purchase property at way below market values and turning them into rentals. It is common to see a three-bedroom, one-bath single-family home rent in the Hillcrest area rent for $800 to $1,000 a month. Once you work out the mortgage costs, taxes and insurance, your monthly profits could be $200 to $400 a month. This does not include the tax advantages granted by Uncle Sam.

Find out what's happening in Mayfield-Hillcrestwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In the following weeks we will look into what it takes to be a landlord.

Listed below are the statistics for the properties listed for sale in Mayfield, Mayfield Heights and Mayfield Village.

Find out what's happening in Mayfield-Hillcrestwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

 

MLS Statistics

Printed by , NEOHREX on 8/25/2011 at 12:45 PM Property Type  Residential    Cities  Mayfield, Mayfield Heights, Mayfield Village Status  Active  

 

 Active: 203  Pending: 0  Sold: 0  Other: 0  Total: 203    Bedrooms  Bathrooms  Square Feet  List Price  Selling Price  DOM/CDOM  Minimum  1   1.00   494   $28,700      0/5   Average  3   2.13   1,630   $164,714   $0   138/185   Median  3   2.00   1,390   $149,000   $0   106/114   Maximum  6   5.00   4,076   $399,000   $0   656/1120   Total Dollar Value       
We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Mayfield-Hillcrest