What direction is residential real estate heading in?

Building costs continue to climb, and homes hitting the market are often commanding significantly higher prices than they did just a few years ago. As we navigate a real estate market that, for now, seems to keep moving up and to the right, the bigger question is what happens next.

At Toledo Money, we’ll continue digging into the region’s hottest listings, notable transactions and the people and developments shaping both the residential and commercial markets.

The question of the week: Is renting about to become even more popular?

As more buyers find themselves priced out of certain homes, will demand for rentals continue to rise? And if that happens, are rental properties themselves becoming too expensive to purchase for investors?

We want to hear what you think.

Happy Wednesday — let’s get into it.

811 Madison Avenue probably doesn't look like a factory. But the 15-story building in the heart of downtown Toledo represents something much bigger than an office tower. It was once the headquarters of one of the companies that helped make Toledo a manufacturing powerhouse.

In 1959, Libbey-Owens-Ford Glass Company — better known as L-O-F — completed its new downtown headquarters.

The company had deep roots in Toledo's glass industry and became a major force in automotive and architectural glass. Its new headquarters was designed by Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, one of the country's most prominent modernist architecture firms.

And the building itself was a showcase for the company.

L-O-F manufactured the glass used throughout the building, including its distinctive glass exterior. The original lobby featured blue mosaic tile and terrazzo flooring materials and design elements intended to showcase the company's own capabilities.

For decades, 811 Madison was where decisions were made that affected a company employing thousands of people and operating manufacturing facilities across the country.

Then Toledo's corporate landscape began to change.

L-O-F was acquired by Britain's Pilkington in 1986, and the building eventually became known as the Pilkington Building. Hylant later acquired the building in 2004 and renamed it the Hylant Building. The building remains Hylant's Toledo headquarters today.

But perhaps the most interesting part of the building's more recent history is what happened next.

Hylant didn't simply preserve the building. It began modernizing it.

In 2018, Hylant undertook a major renovation of the building's roughly 8,000-square-foot lobby and café, with an emphasis on preserving the original architecture. The renovation retained the building's blue tile and terrazzo flooring while creating a more modern lobby and café experience.

The company continued investing in the property.

When Toledo marketing agency Hart Inc. moved back downtown in 2018, roughly 20,000 square feet across the building's fifth and sixth floors were redesigned for the company, including a staircase connecting the two floors to encourage collaboration.

Then in 2020, another 27,000-square-foot renovation began. Hylant renovated its eighth and ninth floors, while additional improvements were made to the third and fourth floors occupied by NSG Group, including restroom and lighting upgrades.

And perhaps fittingly for a building born from Toledo's glass industry, the building's glass has received an upgrade too.

Pilkington replaced the original glass with Pilkington Energy Advantage glass, improving the building's solar-control performance while maintaining the appearance of the original façade. The previous glass on the building LOF had produced, and the glass was called Thermopane.

Today, 811 Madison remains a roughly 220,000-square-foot office building, with Hylant, Hart and NSG among its occupants.

And that's what makes the building worth looking at.

It represents two very different eras of Toledo business.

The building was born when manufacturing companies were some of the most powerful institutions in the city. Today, it serves a very different downtown economy, insurance, professional services, marketing and other office-based businesses.

The factories may have changed. The companies may have changed. But the building is still here.

Beyond The Listing: Sometimes the most interesting real estate stories aren't about what's being built next. They're about the buildings that have already seen Toledo change and managed to change with it.

Observations and opinions on the trends shaping Northwest Ohio’s residential real estate market.

The rental market is getting more expensive and that might be good news for landlords.

But for someone looking to buy their first rental property in Northwest Ohio today, there’s a bigger question:

Did you miss the boat?

Toledo remains relatively affordable compared with its suburbs. Zillow currently puts the average Toledo home value around $133,500, while the average rent is about $1,050 per month. Rent is also up roughly $75 from a year ago.

Move into the suburbs, however, and the numbers change quickly.

In Perrysburg, the typical home value is about $338,500, while average rent is approximately $1,732 per month. In Sylvania, the typical home value is roughly $324,000, with average rent around $1,495. And in Holland, the typical home value is approaching $293,000, while average rent is around $1,350.

Source: Zillow, September 2026. Figures are market-wide averages and are not a projection of investment returns.

And this is where things get interesting. The suburbs command higher rents, but investors also have to pay substantially more to acquire the property. A $1,700 monthly rent sounds attractive until you realize you're potentially buying a $300,000-plus property to generate it.

Meanwhile, a lower-priced Toledo property might generate less rent, but the relationship between the purchase price and rental income can look very different.

That's the real question for today's would-be landlord: Where does the math still work?

Buying a rental property isn't the same thing as buying a rental property that makes money.

Taxes, insurance, maintenance, vacancy, property management and financing costs can quickly eat into gross rental income. And with home prices having risen, investors can't simply assume that rising rents will automatically produce a great return.

That doesn't mean the opportunity is gone but It definitely means the strategy may have changed.

For someone entering the rental business today, the opportunity could be finding a property that is priced correctly relative to the rent it can command, whether that's a $150,000 house in Toledo or a $300,000-plus property in one of the suburbs.

The investor who buys based solely on the monthly rent may miss the bigger picture.

The investor who understands the relationship between purchase price, rent, expenses and long-term value has a much better idea of what they're actually buying.

And that's something we'll continue watching across Northwest Ohio.

Because the rental market may still have plenty of room to grow. The bigger question is whether the properties themselves are still priced for investors to make money.

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