Cincinnati Rents in September 2026: Growth Slows and the 3-Bedroom Spread Hits 2x
Apartment rent growth fell to 1.1% year over year in Q2. Hamilton County's median ask is $1,500, and 3-bedroom rents run 2x apart inside one county.
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THE CINCY CASH FLOW REPORT
NEWSLETTER ARTICLES
Market updates, underwriting lessons and Cincy REI Show highlights from the Cincy Cash Flow Report, written by Ian Cruz, CPA. 41 articles, newest first.
The First 30 Days of a Master Lease: Day 1 of Ownership Was Day 91 of Operations
Section 8 transfers, DocuSigns, new maintenance processes and tenant notices: the first 30 days of a master lease, and why starting early lowers cost.
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How AI Changed the Way We Run the Cincinnati Field Trip
A field trip website built in an hour, scheduled Slack messages, personal agendas and a bucket-list challenge. How AI removes the content bottleneck for events.
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House Hacking in Cincinnati: Lessons From a Four-Time House Hacker
Chris Morgan built a portfolio while holding a W-2 job. House hack advice, Butler Metro versus CMHA inspections and 100-year-old buildings. Episode 21.
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Cincinnati Market Update, August 2026: Flood Cleanup and Who Pays for the Fix
Record July rainfall, a sewer district short on cleanup funds, $22 million in office-tower incentives and a 129-unit project cut nearly in half.
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Higher for Longer: The Fed, Housing and Where Distress Is Showing Up
Rate relief is a possibility, not a plan. Where housing is rebalancing, where commercial real estate losses are realizing, and how operators should position.
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Where Multifamily Stands at Mid-2026: Joe Fairless on Cincinnati and the Sun Belt
Joe Fairless on Sun Belt supply, why the Midwest is weathering this cycle better, and the Class A, B and C divide. From a live Cincy REI Show recording.
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Running a Master Lease Before Closing: What Three Months of Operating First Taught Us
We ran a 100+ unit scattered-site portfolio under a master lease for three months before closing. How it worked and how we diligenced every address.
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Forcing Appreciation and Leverage: Slocomb Reed's Framework for Scaling
Slocomb Reed's solo episode on forcing appreciation, using leverage to pull capital back out, and why raising outside capital works only with a proven playbook.
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What Actually Sold in Cincinnati Multifamily in Q2 2026
81 apartment buildings and 2,546 units traded in Q2, but only 27 sales show a price. The 22 clean comps median $77,583 per unit. What the deed records show.
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Unit Mix: The Most Underrated Decision in a Rental Portfolio
Single-family homes, duplexes and small apartments each do a different job. How unit mix sets your risk, financing, workload and exit.
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Northern Kentucky Real Estate Investing: Lessons From a Wholesaler Turned Early Retiree
Garth Kukla wholesaled hundreds of Northern Kentucky deals, then went 100% referral. His one-question lead filter and his Newport, Covington and Bellevue map.
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School Districts and Single-Family Rentals: The Variable Most Investors Misread
Assigned schools shape price, tenant tenure and exit demand. How to match a school district profile to a cash flow or appreciation strategy before you buy.
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The ROAD to Housing Act: What the Institutional Investor Restriction Actually Says
Headlines call it a ban on big investors buying homes. The 350-home threshold, the exemptions and the build-to-rent carve-out show what the statute does.
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How to Handle Evictions With Compassion: Lessons From TLP Property Management
TLP Property Management's operations director on communicating before rent is late, documenting in writing and treating tenants with dignity. Episode 17.
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The Starter Home Gap: Why a Multifamily Investor Buys Entry-Level Homes
Builders walked away from entry-level housing after 2008. Why renovated starter homes under $200,000 keep finding buyers, and how to underwrite them.
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Cincinnati's Hottest Submarkets: What a Top Agent Sees Right Now
Ethan Bishop of Keller Williams Seven Hills on Loveland, Old Milford, Norwood, Pleasant Ridge, Evanston, Green Township and Lebanon. Episode 16 highlights.
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Why We Flip Starter Homes in Cincinnati, Not Luxury Ones
Entry-level homes qualify for FHA financing, sell to owner-occupants and reward fundamentals over finishes. How Slocomb Reed's Cincinnati flips are built.
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Cincinnati Multifamily From the Broker Side: Lessons From JD Schmerge
A broker turned owner-operator on insurance, property taxes, C-class vacancy and the 10% renovation rule. Highlights from the Cincy REI Show.
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How to Value a Scattered-Site Portfolio: The Income Approach vs. Comps
A portfolio of houses is worth two numbers at once. How to run the income approach and comparable sales, and why to pay no more than the lower of the two.
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What the Port of Greater Cincinnati Knows About Old Houses
The Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority sold its 200th rehabbed home after buying distressed portfolios one at a time. What its record shows.
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Four-Family Investing and Cold Calling: A Cincinnati Playbook From Bret Halsey
Former FC Cincinnati player Bret Halsey acquired 70+ units through direct-to-seller cold calling. His four-family playbook from Cincy REI Show Episode 13.
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Cincinnati Market Update, June 2026: The Banks Approval, Tax Credits and a Fed Reversal
The $800M Banks plan passed, every Cincinnati 9% housing tax credit applicant won one, and the Fed stopped talking about cuts. What June means for investors.
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Yasso 800s and the Deal That Demanded Volume
A boxing coach's summer track plan built on Yasso 800m repeats, and what banking volume in training taught our team about a very large acquisition.
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Buying Scattered-Site Single-Family Portfolios When Others Can't
Why we buy scattered single-family portfolios at scale while much of the market moves the other way: fewer buyers, harder operations and a gap few firms fill.
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Turning Around a Distressed Cincinnati Apartment Building With a Master Lease
Slocomb Reed and Brandon Turner's master lease took a 24-unit Cleves building from 9 rent-paying tenants to near-full occupancy before closing. Episode 12.
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Rural Ohio Multifamily Investing: 930 Units With Lee Yoder
Lee Yoder of Threefold REI built 930 units across rural Ohio and northeast Indiana, buys near 8% cap rates and runs management in-house. Episode 9 highlights.
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Cincinnati Housing Market Update, May 2026: Prices, Inventory and Public Capital
Median prices up 6.7% year over year, inventory at 1.9 months and days on market at 36. Why Cincinnati is compressing faster than the headlines suggest.
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Five Questions Every Rental Property Owner Should Ask About Their Numbers
Cap rate at today's value, repair costs against peers, live rent trends, untapped equity and insurance budgeting: five questions that sit above the P&L.
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Cincinnati Wholesaling in 2026: Off-Market Deal Flow With Dylan Koch
Dylan Koch of Morning Brew Properties mapped 300 off-market Cincinnati deals by neighborhood and explained Ohio's wholesale disclosure law. Episode 7.
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Master Lease Agreements: A Powerful Tool for Multifamily Buyers
A master lease or early management agreement gives a buyer operational control before closing. Five ways it de-risks a value-add acquisition.
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Northside, Cincinnati: Development Capital and Supply Signals
A 78-unit affordable project moves through approvals while new multifamily completions are projected to drop about 43% in 2026. What Northside's signals mean.
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Cincinnati Hard Money Lending, Neighborhood by Neighborhood
Grant Smith of Sharper Capital Partners walked the Cincy REI Show through a live loan map of roughly 300 funded Cincinnati deals. Highlights from Episode 4.
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Scattered-Site Portfolio Acquisitions: Why the Friction Creates the Opportunity
Scattered-site portfolios are hard to diligence, finance and renovate at once. Thin buyer pools and sellers who need certainty are why that friction pays.
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AI in Multifamily Due Diligence: The 55-Point Unit Walkthrough
Three tracks of due diligence, a 55-point unit walkthrough, and the tools that absorb the volume. What stays human when AI handles multifamily diligence.
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Cincinnati Market Update, April 2026: Building Boom and Higher-for-Longer Rates
A GE Aerospace commitment, the highest multifamily construction quarter in two years and a Fed on hold. What March meant for Cincinnati investors.
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Cincinnati Named the No. 1 Rental Market in the U.S. for 2026
RentCafe ranked Cincinnati the No. 1 U.S. rental market. Renter migration, logistics and hospitality capital, and a narrowing window to buy on local mispricing.
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Cincinnati Real Estate in 2026: Strong Demand, Tighter Execution
Cincinnati demand across housing, infrastructure and capital programs is intact. Power access, approvals and governance now decide who gets deals done.
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Cincinnati Ranked No. 1 for Renter Demand: What It Means for Investors
Cincinnati ranked No. 1 nationally for renter demand. Listing views rose 34%, saved searches 56%, and vacancy sits near 6%. Here is what that means for owners.
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2026 Housing Market Outlook: Market Reset, Affordability and Policy Risk
Solid growth, cooling labor, distorted shelter inflation and a healthier market structure. The macro signals shaping the 2026 housing market for investors.
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Multifamily Insurance Costs: How to Underwrite Around Rising Premiums
Per-door insurance premiums jumped over the past 12 to 24 months. Stress-test renewals so a $300 per unit miss does not cost you $30,000 of NOI.
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