349 W Main St

Mechanicsburg, OH 43044

$146,900C

2 bd · 1.0 ba · 1,596 sqft · Built 1900 · SingleFamily · Pending · 3 DOM

Cashflow @ list (25.0% down · 7.5%)

• Estimated rent: $1,158/mo
• Mortgage (P&I): −$770
• Tax + insurance: −$153
• HOA: −$0
• Vac / Maint / Mgmt: −$243
• Net cashflow: $-9/mo
• Annual: $-105/yr
• Cap rate: 6.22%
• Cash-on-cash: -0.26%
• DSCR: 0.99
• 1% rule: 0.79%
• Cash to close: $41,132

Investor read

• This is a 2-bed/1.0-bath single-family listed at $147k.
• At list price, monthly cash flow is $-9 ($-105/yr) — negative.
• To cash-flow at today's rent, offer at most $145k (1.1% below list).
• To meet the 1% rule (rent ≥ 1% of price), the offer needs to be $116k (21.2% below list).
• Only 3 days on market — expect competitive offers; lowballing is unlikely to land.
• Recommended offer: $116k (21.2% below list) — sets the bar for 1% rule.
• In year one you build about $8k of equity ($1k loan paydown + $7k appreciation (4.9% local appreciation)).
• Location reads 74/100 on livability (#272 in OH, #4,467 nationally) — a middle-class / working-renter tenant base. Strengths: crime A+, cost of living A+, housing A+; Watch: amenities F, commute F.
• Mechanicsburg Exempted Village (rural): math 76% / reading 67% proficiency, ranked #132 of 656 in OH (top 20%) — strong family-tenant draw, lease renewals of 3-5y typical.
• Watch-outs: built in 1900 — expect roof / HVAC / electrical / plumbing capex.
• Market conditions: 8 active listings in the ZIP; 42 units permitted in Champaign County in 2024 (0 in 5+ unit buildings).
• Champaign County population projected at -25% by 2050 — secular population decline; favor cash flow + early exit over multi-decade hold.
• 5 sale attempts with the ask held roughly flat each time — persistent listings suggest the price (not the market) is what's stuck; bring a comps-based counter.
• At projected returns (4.9% appreciation + 3.0% rent growth), your $41k cash investment doubles in ~5 years — after that, you're playing with house money.
• By year 5, paydown + projected appreciation supports a ~$36k cash-out refi (75% LTV) — recoverable capital for the next deal without selling this one.

Questions for listing agent

• What do current leases actually rent for vs. the listed asking? Can we see a recent rent roll and the last 12 months of T-12 income?
• Built in 1900 — when were the roof, HVAC, electrical panel, plumbing, and water heater last replaced?
• Is there a deadline driving the sale (1031 exchange, divorce, estate, relocation)? That informs how much negotiation room exists.
• Schools are B-rated — typically a magnet for longer-tenancy family renters. What's the average tenant stay here, and is there a school-zone premium baked into asking?
• What's the average days-on-market for RENTAL listings here right now (not sales)? A rising rental-DOM trend means longer vacancies and softer asking-rent achievability than the comps imply.
• What's the recent tenant-quality profile in this submarket — average credit score on applications, eviction rate, late-payment / NSF rate, and stable-employment percentage? A property-management company in the area should have these aggregated.
• How much new for-sale + rental construction is in the pipeline within 1–3 miles? Heavy new supply typically softens prices + rents 12–24 months out; constrained supply supports both.