By Asia Nail
The Truth Reporter
Toledo’s Housing Market Is Changing
When Engelo Rumora, owner of OZ Realty, first discovered Toledo’s real estate market, he still lived in Australia.
That was around 2012.
Fourteen years later, the Australian-born entrepreneur has made Toledo home and built a business around a market that once seemed like an unlikely destination.
“People used to joke around and say, what is an Australian doing in Toledo, Ohio?” Rumora recalls.
His answer, in many ways, now stands in bricks, mortar and renovated homes.
Toledo caught his attention because it offered something increasingly difficult to find in larger markets: opportunity.
While housing prices on the East and West coasts climbed beyond the reach of many buyers, Toledo remained comparatively affordable.
Today, Rumora says that difference draws investors from across the country.
“At one point, everyone and their dog started coming to Toledo,” he jokes.
The influx raises a question that matters to anyone who lives here, particularly renters and would-be homeowners: When outside investors see opportunity in Toledo, how can Toledo residents make sure they see it, too?
More Investment, More Housing?
Rumora believes investment can bring something Toledo needs: housing.
He points to investors who purchase neglected properties, renovate them and return them to the rental market. In his view, those renovations add available housing and can help keep rents from rising even further.
“If we’re getting a lot of foreign investment, it’s just going to make more housing available to more everyday people,” he explains.
But another side of that equation deserves attention.
A house can look like an investment on paper. To the person renting it, it is simply home.
Rumora understands that delineation. Property management, he says, can become “a very thankless business” because managers often find themselves between tenants who want repairs completed and landlords concerned about the cost.
His goal is to make that relationship work.
“When tenants are happy, they stay and pay on time. The landlord is happy. We are happy,” he says. “It’s just a win-win across the board.”
For Toledo renters, particularly those trying to stretch every dollar, that win matters.
Modernizing Property Management
Oz Realty is a highly rated, tech-oriented property management company based in Toledo, Ohio. Founded in 2014 as an ancillary wing to the turnkey investment company Ohio Cashflow, Oz Realty specializes in handling residential rental portfolios for property owners, particularly focusing on out-of-state and international real estate investors.
As an Inc. 5000 honoree, the firm positions itself as a modern, digital-first alternative to traditional property managers.
From Renting to Owning
Rumora’s advice to people who want to own real estate starts less with complicated investment strategies and more with financial discipline.
He remembers when money was tight for him. He described eating peanut butter for breakfast and drinking inexpensive gas-station coffee simply to keep going.
“But one thing that I always did was I paid my rent,” he shares.
That experience reinforced something he still emphasizes: People need to understand where their money comes from, where it goes and how they can save toward a larger goal.
“Live below your means,” he advises.
Simple advice does not always mean easy advice.
For families trying to move from renting to owning, education can become a critical first step. Rumora believes people need more information about saving for a down payment, managing money and understanding what homeownership actually requires.
“These things aren’t taught in school,” he says. “You don’t learn in school how to invest money, how to save money, or how to spend diligently.”
For Black Toledoans, that knowledge can carry particular weight. Homeownership represents more than a roof. It can create equity, stability and something a family can eventually pass down.
Who Gets a Seat at the Table?
There is another part of the real estate conversation that deserves attention: Who participates in the industry itself?
Rumora described OZ Realty as a mostly female local team. He identified employees working in business development, office management, finance, leasing, maintenance and the front office. The company also works with remote employees in the Philippines.
“We are pretty diverse,” he says of his broader team.
He describes the workplace as “very casual, very fun, very down to earth,” where employees enjoy working together, as “life’s too short” not to enjoy what you do.
That distinction matters.
For residents watching investors purchase and renovate property in their neighborhoods, representation should not stop with who rents the home or who handles the maintenance request.
Who owns the properties?
Who gets the contracts?
Who gets hired?
Who learns the real estate business?
And perhaps most importantly, who gets the chance to become an investor themselves?
Those questions belong in the larger wealth conversation happening across Toledo.
Building for Toledo’s Future
Rumora is not simply talking about Toledo’s potential. He is investing in it.
He recently purchased a commercial building near Adams Street and plans to develop it into six apartments with retail space.
He remains optimistic about downtown Toledo and believes the city deserves significant investment in its infrastructure, schools and neighborhoods.
“I think this market deserves it,” he notes.
But his biggest wish goes beyond more investors.
Rumora suggests he would love to see someone with deep ties to the region make a major investment in Toledo, similar to what Dan Gilbert has done in Detroit. (Gilbert is the founder of Bedrock, among other holdings, a full-service real estate firm that has invested roughly $7.5 billion to acquire, restore, and manage more than 140 properties in downtown Detroit.)
That vision points to something bigger than real estate.
Cities are not just collections of properties. They are people, families, memories and dreams.
The Bigger Opportunity
Rumora says he has no hidden agenda when he speaks publicly about real estate. He wants to offer value and perhaps give someone a piece of advice that changes what they believe is possible.
“Sometimes all it takes is one sentence in a book or someone that you hear on a radio interview that kicks you into gear and gets you going,” he adds.
Maybe Toledo’s greatest opportunity is not choosing between local residents and outside investors. Maybe it is creating a city where both can contribute to its next chapter.
Investment can bring capital. Renovation can breathe new life into old properties. New businesses can fill once-empty storefronts. And with the right knowledge and resources, local residents can find their own pathways into ownership, entrepreneurship and investment.
That possibility begins with access to information and the belief that real estate is not a world reserved for someone else.
For the Toledo resident saving for a first home, the entrepreneur searching for a storefront, the family hoping to leave something behind, or the person simply wondering where to begin, opportunity can start with a single question: How can Toledo make sure the people who call this city home have a meaningful opportunity to benefit from its growth?
Embracing Toledo’s Next Chapter
Toledo is changing. Its neighborhoods are evolving, new investment is arriving, and the city continues to write its story.
The most encouraging part is that the next chapter has not been written yet.
There is room for investors. There is room for homeowners. There is room for entrepreneurs, developers, renters and dreamers.
And there is room for Toledo residents to step forward, learn the game and become part of the investment in their own community.
Because when the keys change hands, they do not have to represent the end of one story.
Sometimes, they can be the beginning of another.
Learn More About Oz Realty as they bridge the gap between local real estate and global capital. They provide both in-state and out-of-state investors with hands-off, flat-fee portfolio management, offer renters a seamless, digital-first leasing experience, and support local residents by providing quality housing that strengthens community neighborhoods.