Kansas City out of state investing

[Sean Ade]

Hey BP. I'm looking at OOS investing in the Kansas City MO market and would love to connect with some folks who know the market well. I have a great RE Agent who I'm working with / partnering with which makes me feel very comfortable about being in the market since he knows it well and will be there during the process. We're looking at small multi-families, as low as a 4plex, up to a 12plex ideally.

But I've been reading a lot of mixed reviews. At first I read a lot of positive data, then I met an investor for St Louis who mentioned he's gone away from KC because it was a shrinking market. So then I started looking at some more data and found the projections from citydata and bestplaces.net were below country averages. The RE Market still seems to be going strong as rental rates and appreciation continue to rise, but wages, unemployment and job growth seem to be below country averages. 

I know at the end of the day a lot comes down to where you buy and at what price you buy at, but I'm curious to hear from those more experienced in out of state investing, as well as the KC market, if they believe in this area for the years to come.

Thanks!

[Pinder Cheema]

Hello Sean, I have been following the Kansas City market for a while now and recently closed on a duplex.  I think Kansas City has a robust local economy that isn't limited to one specific industry or company.  The economy has diversified and job growth has been phenomenal over the past few years.  Moreover, Kansas City still remains affordable for both renters and home buyers.  Rentals units in good areas of Kansas City have low vacancy and cash pretty well.  However, be weary of areas that look good on paper, but will break the bank when the tenant destroys a years worth of cash flow.  Many zip codes of Kansas City are street specific, so be careful of investing in the wrong street.  I worked with Wardell and Holmes, and would recommend them for out of state investors.  They are familiar with the market and will shield you from the bad areas.  There isn't a lot of larger multi-family properties for sale, however, you won't have any trouble finding duplexes or fourplexes.