Experiences in Small Town SF MF Investing in WY, SD, NE Area

[Kit West]

Small town investing has its challenges & rewards. What has been your experiences in small towns <5000 population in the Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska areas. SF, MF and airBnB arbitrage. 

[Nathan Gesner]

Depends on the market. There's no "one-size-fits-all" in real estate.

I'm primarily in Cody, population 9,500. I manage 300+ rentals and usually have low vacancy, quality renters. It doesn't meet the 1% rule regarding returns but it's close and appreciates well. Our slow season is normally October - January but I've been renting nice houses for good prices in a week or so. Apartments are also doing well. Mid-level around $900 a month is where we seem to be slow for some reason.

I'm also in Powell, population 5,000. it's a small college town so apartments do fantastic during the school year but we get a lot of turnover in the late spring/early summer. Houses do well for me because most Landlords over there own trashy little dumps built in the 40s that they refuse to maintain so I spruce things up and they fill quick. Again, they don't cash-flow like properties in the mid-west but they are pretty safe investments.