$30k House in GOOD neighborhood of South St. Louis City

[Bob Hines]

Here is one to prove all the $30k nay-sayers wrong. $30k and not in the hood! 6107 Alaska, Saint Louis, MO 63111. Property is 2 blocks north of Carondelet Park (one of the good parks). Easily walk to the new YMCA and the park. Alaska is only 2 blocks long in this section so it is a quiet area. Easy access to Grand Blvd, Highway 55 and the shopping at Loughborough Commons. Many long term residents that care about the neighborhood. Tax records indicate 700 sqft but that doesn't include the addition, which brings the house to 900 sqft.

House has 2 bedrooms but is technically considered a 1 bedroom because one of the bedrooms is a walk-through to the bathroom. Room is plenty big enough to still use as a bedroom though. Main bedroom is large with a large living room as well. Eat in kitchen. Cement patio offers a shaded area for outdoor relaxing. The lot is small as it doesn't reach the alley but that has always been a selling point (renting point?) for the house as that offers safety and privacy. House sits on a crawl space.

This house rents great. The hardest part about renting it is sifting through the stacks of applications that come in. Only 3 tenants since 2010. Previous tenants just moved out because their jobs moved out to Wentzville (GM supplier), a 1+ hour drive each way. It was rented for $600/month but they moved in 2015 and I didn't raise the rent on them so I'm going to start advertising at $650. I've had lots of inquires about Section 8 for this house. I have not done Sect 8 on any of my properties personally but it could be a strategy if the rents would be higher. Taxes for 2016 were $515, less than 1 month rent. The numbers work great with this one.

New roof and AC in 2010. New gutters last year. I'm going to replace the caulk in the bathtub (results are better than trying to just scrub it) and it will be ready to rent. 

Why am I selling? This was the second rental I purchased while still living in the City. Since then I moved to St. Charles and my properties have been focused in a different area and this one is an outlier. The tenants just moved out and I can't show the property to tenants yet as I'm busy finishing up coaching my daughters' basketball teams so I thought I would see if now is a good time to sell and consolidate geographically.