Actively looking for 12-20 unit apartment complex in Midwest

[Rohan J.]

Hi BP,

I live in CA and am trying to do a 1031 Exchange for my $500k CA investment property into a mid-sized apartment complex somewhere in the Midwest in the next 30-60 days.  

Would prefer to purchase something that has a clear-cut way to immediately add value.

Here is my criteria:

• Goal = strong cash flow in a decent market
• Purchase Price = $500k - $1M (aiming for under $50-60k per unit)
• Neighborhood = B-/B neighborhood . I've found that too fancy neighborhoods aren't great for returns, and junk neighborhoods have too much headaches + turnover.
• Population size: Would like the city of rental to have at least a ~25K population (list of major midwest cities)
• Age of Property = I always aim for under 75 years old (don't like the maintenance required for old properties). Ideally I'd prefer under 50 years old.
• Are Rehabs okay? Absolutely. I'm fine with value-add properties, just nothing with major structural or foundation issues.
• My #1 problem in the past = Tenant turnover. Nothing kills returns like constant turnover and tenant placement fees. I'm looking for strong demand and areas where people like to stay for a while. Even better if it's near a strong school district.
• The numbers = What's worked in the past has been finding properties that rent for at least 1.5% of the purchase price (e.g. a $60k property renting for around $900/mo); this seems harder to find these days, which is why I don't mind moving into a slightly lower neighborhood.
• Rents = I would like to purchase something with a price point of under $60k per unit, where 1B/1BAs rent for $600+, 2B/2BAs rent for $700+, and 3B/3BAs rent for $800+ .
  
  Why those rent prices? I've noticed that when rents get below $600, I start to get a much lower tenant demographic that causes a lot of headaches.
  
  I've also noticed that when rents get too expensive ($1200+), my tenant base shrinks dramatically and I have much longer vacancies, since not too many people can afford very high rent prices.
  
  This is why I really like the sweet spot of around $600-900/mo in rent prices, as there is always good demand and strong tenants in this range.
• Type of units? I just want to avoid purchasing a property that has a majority % of Studio units. 
• My main concerns are (in order): neighborhood of property, overall rent-to-price ratio, age of rental property, current condition of property

If it's not at least a B- neighborhood, I won't care how great the numbers are. Neighborhood is everything to me.  I'm going to fly out for a week to ensure that neighborhood / surrounding area /etc look great.

Need to find something in the next 30-60 days.

Please PM if interested. Thanks