Author Topic: Kansas City Real Estate Investment  (Read 3033 times)

myamnesia

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Kansas City Real Estate Investment
« on: February 01, 2016, 04:39:31 PM »
Hi,

Has anyone had any experience investing in real estate in Kansas City? We're looking at going with a turnkey company out there for our first out of state purchase.

Any insight would be appreciated!

Thanks in advance :)

GrowingTheGreen

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Re: Kansas City Real Estate Investment
« Reply #1 on: February 01, 2016, 06:01:54 PM »
Posting to follow

Megma

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Re: Kansas City Real Estate Investment
« Reply #2 on: February 01, 2016, 06:27:11 PM »
I'd be curious what company you're using if you'd share. I looked at properties there and found absolutely nothing, I'm out of state but have connections there.

jnc

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Re: Kansas City Real Estate Investment
« Reply #3 on: February 02, 2016, 05:47:37 AM »
Sorry no experience with Kansas City. I know a good turnkey company in TN if you're interested and could put you in touch.

CashFlowDiaries

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Re: Kansas City Real Estate Investment
« Reply #4 on: February 02, 2016, 08:34:19 AM »
The last turnkey rental I bought was in KC.  Send me a message and ill give you all the details or you can email me at cashflowdiaries @ gmail.com


Bobberth

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Re: Kansas City Real Estate Investment
« Reply #5 on: February 02, 2016, 09:30:10 PM »
No experience in KC but I am across the state in St. Louis which is a similar market. Be VERY cautious with purchasing out of state in these markets and similar. People like to spout off great numbers, and great numbers are to be found and made, but rarely do they ever happen for out of state investors-vacancies and repairs eat away at the returns because most likely the properties aren't in very good areas or they paid too much.

Here are a couple of mistakes I see out of state investors make here:
Not checking comps. Many times you can buy a similar property in the same area for way less from the MLS instead of a Turnkey provider. Check realtor.com for the zip code, make sure you're paying actual market prices and not an inflated price from a marketer (TK provider). I've seen the exact same property listed on the MLS for $10k cheaper than what a "wholesaler" was advertising it for. Overpay in the beginning and you are guaranteed to lose money. In STL, "Cash only" often means "Won't appraise for what you're buying it for". I assume that is common elsewhere too.

Not knowing the market. The first apartment I moved into in 2000 for $420/month now rents for $450. 7% increase in 16 years. Sewer bills have more than doubled and the City instituted an $11/month trash fee along with increased other expenses during that time. How are those 3% annual increases until the end of time working out? The area has actually improved but the market is so saturated with 1 bedroom units, the supply and competition has held rents down.

Trusting the ARVs. Anybody can make anything up to make any asking price seem like a deal. Again, check comps and what houses are actually selling for. Saw one this week: 'Asking $40k, needing $25k of work but ARV of $90k-$100k'. Not a bad deal. Other than I own a house on that block and know that nothing in that area has sold for anywhere near $90k for years and that house (a bit funny looking) might get you as much as $60k AFTER putting the $25k into it and you find the one buyer willing and able to pay that much. But it was a "wholesale deal". Personally, I wouldn't pay $40k for that house if all the $25k of repairs were already made and included for that price. Don't trust ARVs in these markets. They may have comps but in STL anyway, it can be a world of difference going from one block to the next.

Ignoring expenses. For apartments in STL it is common practice for landlords to pay for water, sewer and trash as the building are old and nothing is individually metered. I have yet to see any marketed property list these expenses. Make sure you know EVERYTHING that should be included. Also know realistic vacancy and repair expenses.

Bad areas. I had someone contact me on Bigger Pockets asking about STL. He had a deal lined up and wanted my opinion. I loved the area and it was right in the middle of where I own 3 properties and told him it seemed like a good deal. He responded that he missed out on that deal but had two more that he had already put a contract on. He told me where they were and my response was, "That zip code is where out of state investors go to die". He was a bit shocked at the bluntness but I warned him that the numbers always look good but there are too many bad areas and he will have too many vacancies/unpaid rent and repairs. People usually overpay for properties there too so to compound a bad experience they take a bath getting out.

Thinking you know more than the locals. Same two properties the guy above had under contract. They had both been on the market for over 6 months and were two of the top 3 most expensive 4 families in the zip code. This guy was from California. He comes in and thinks he is getting a great deal on these 4 families and is going to make a ton of money. The same properties that every investor in St. Louis had already looked over and decided to pass on months ago. But he knows more than all of us. If you can get something off-market or just hit the market, go for it (with proper due diligence). If it has been on the market for months, ask yourself why all the locals have passed on it. Or, if it is such a screaming deal, why are they passing it on to you? Why are they selling it to you instead of listing on the MLS?

I will admit, I am not a fan of Turn Key providers. I've never used one but from what I have seen offered in my market, they are not to be trusted and most should be avoided. Not that there aren't or can't be a good one. To me it seems better to buy a rehabbed property that is on the market, at market price and pay a manager to manage it for you. There is no reason to pay a premium to do this as you will never get your money back in these slow or no appreciation markets.

GrowingTheGreen

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Re: Kansas City Real Estate Investment
« Reply #6 on: February 03, 2016, 07:00:22 AM »
Thanks for sharing this. Very insightful.

myamnesia

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Re: Kansas City Real Estate Investment
« Reply #7 on: February 03, 2016, 10:36:12 AM »
Great advice Bobberth and very insightful for the STL market, thank you for taking the time to post.

ahawkchick

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Re: Kansas City Real Estate Investment
« Reply #8 on: February 06, 2016, 09:56:00 AM »
I'm a very small time Kansas City investor.  We live in Kansas City and this past May we purchased a foreclosed home with a HELOC.  We got the house for 45,000, put 35,000 more into it for a top to bottom renovation.  It's worth probably 90,000 to 95,000.  We are currently renting it for $1050 a month.  The house is 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath and right at 1000 square feet.  It's in a working class type nice neighborhood.  It's not too far from where we live so we felt comfortable with the area.  There are many different areas of Kansas City and the prices and rental markets vary quite a bit.  We happen to be in the "Northland" so that is what I'm most familiar with.  Our plan is to acquire a house a year for the next 5 years.  I really don't know about the turnkey concept, but I think Kansas City has a lot of opportunity.

srob

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Re: Kansas City Real Estate Investment
« Reply #9 on: February 08, 2016, 09:14:10 AM »
I don't know anything about Kansas City, but have been tempted to look at the midwest for higher returns myself. Just be careful what company you are using...there was a turnkey realestate investment company in the news last week where the founders were indicted on charges of collecting 28 million from investors, and they did not have any good properties, mostly just paying the established investors off with the new investor funds. Apparently the system started to crumble when some investors stopped receiving payments, SEC found out, etc. But the company was running for 5 years or so, and it is feasible that new investors were duped by the good references they were getting from established ones, who up until that point were getting good returns themselves and were satisfied.