Finding Our Niche in Kansas City

[Kyle Talbot]

Hi BP guys and gals! 

I've been bitten by the real estate bug! My wife and I bought a SFH as our personal property last year on an FHA loan in the Denver market. I did a remodel and according to my realtor have already forced $30-$40k of appreciation! Originally, we thought that we would live here forever, but now I can't wait for it to appreciate further so that we can sell and buy more, but I don't want to wait that long!

We now want to buy our first investment property! Unfortunately, we do not have the capital to put 20% on anything here in the Denver area, but we don't want that to stop us! After spending the last month reading books (particularly @David Greene 's book on out of state investing), listening to BP podcasts and analyzing deals; I feel like that we can definitely make another market work. Enter Kansas City. We both grew up in the KC area and most of our family still reside there so it seems logical that we start our investing career there.

The more I learn, the more I realize how important it is to find your niche before you jump into your first deal. This is where we're having the most trouble! Do we buy a SFH or small multi family (duplex, triplex, etc)? Or do we do a flip? Do we find a partner who is local for our first deal? If so, how do we go about doing that? I feel like we're at the point where most newbie's, especially ones who are looking out of state, give up. I don't want that to be us!

We're looking for some guidance and would appreciate any advice on where to go from here! I've reached out to several real estate agents and am meeting with one the 1st week of April as we will be there visiting family. I'd also love the opportunity to meet with other investors while we're there. So, if anyone knows of a meetup, would like to grab coffee or walk some properties between the 3rd-7th, please DM me. 

Hope everybody is having an awesome week! 

[Lee Ripma]

What are your goals? Are you looking to park capital, get appreciation, value add with MF and force appreciation, get a 7% return on your cash, get a 20% return on your cash, etc. I don't think people ask why they want to invest in RE and what their goals are. Often times their goals are easily achieved without the hassle and the risk of owning RE directly. Once you answer your goals question you can work backwards to figure out what makes sense. You also need to invest in something that exists in the market you want to be in. KC does have some small MF but has a great number of SFH. I also think that partnering with someone local can be a great option and I'm always surprised that folks don't participate in a syndication or a partnership for their first deal. Since you are from KC maybe you have a trusted partner who you can flip with or a trusted person to manage rentals for you. So 1) think about your goals 2) think about how you can achieve them in the market you have chosen 3) think about the people who will help get you there in the market you have chosen. Take stock of all of this and then take the next logical action! Good luck and keep us posted!