St. Louis Rental Investment

[Clayton Smith]

Hi, everyone! I'm just getting into real estate, and these forums have been HUGELY helpful! I live in Chicago, but am from STL, where the rest of my family still lives. Because St. Louis is a more reasonable market, price-wise, I'm thinking about purchasing rental properties there rather than here in Chicago, specifically a condo in the Washington Ave section of downtown. My sister is a professional property manager, and she would manage the property. I have two questions: 1. Is STL a reliable rental market these days? I'd love to hear any advice or stories anyone has about renting out space there! 2. Does anyone have words of warning and things to be on the lookout for when it comes to owning rental property in another state? Thank you so much!!

[Peter MacKercher]

@Clayton Smith St. Louis is definitely a reliable rental market, and it has been becoming more and more so. I've been investing here for over a decade and it's been viable the entire time. The game has changed a bit as more and more people are looking to this city, but there's always a way to make it work.

The biggest piece of advice for an out-of-state investor is to have a PM you can trust. If that's something you can have a family member do, sounds like that's covered. Beyond that it'd just be the basic advice of buying at the right time and for the right price. St. Louis has a lot of options for rental investments, so you can consider the Wash Ave area, but definitely don't rule out other areas -- the city has a lot to offer.