Saint Louis Missouri Investing

[Mark Debeyssey]

Good afternoon everyone!  

I was recently informed by a colleague that I should consider investing in single family and/or multifamily homes (as Rentals) in Saint Louis Missouri.  Given the wide range of expertise and talent that Bigger Pockets members have, I decided to post the following questions in the Forums in hopes of discerning some wisdom from fellow members:

• Is Real Estate investing in Saint Louis Missouri a good choice/safe market?

• How is the Real Estate market currently in Saint Louis Missouri in regards to inventory and price point on Single Family and Multifamily homes; is the ROI good?

• If investing in Saint Louis Missouri is a good choice/safe market, what are some zip codes one would suggest considering for either single family and/or multifamily homes?  

• What is the average Rental fee one can charge given said zip codes/regions suggested above?

Best Regards,

Mark D.

[Donald S.]

Originally posted by @Mark Debeyssey:

Good afternoon everyone!  

I was recently informed by a colleague that I should consider investing in single family and/or multifamily homes (as Rentals) in Saint Louis Missouri.  Given the wide range of expertise and talent that Bigger Pockets members have, I decided to post the following questions in the Forums in hopes of discerning some wisdom from fellow members:

• Is Real Estate investing in Saint Louis Missouri a good choice/safe market?

• How is the Real Estate market currently in Saint Louis Missouri in regards to inventory and price point on Single Family and Multifamily homes; is the ROI good?

• If investing in Saint Louis Missouri is a good choice/safe market, what are some zip codes one would suggest considering for either single family and/or multifamily homes?  

• What is the average Rental fee one can charge given said zip codes/regions suggested above?

Best Regards,

Mark D.

 Hi Mark, 

That's a lot of information to convey via a forum post. I'll answer what I can, as an agent who works solely with investors, owns multiple rentals in the city, and grew up in StL. 

1: St. Louis is a great market to invest in, whether it's "safe" or not kind of depends on your definition. Yes there may be a mag 9.0 earthquake sometime in the next 100 years that levels everything from Memphis to St. Louis, but hey if that happens I'll have bigger concerns. 

2: Currently the market feels like established rentals are going for right around the 1% rule in the best neighborhoods, but there is a ton of opportunity in the secondary neighborhoods or when looking for fixer-uppers. I've found the ROI to be close to what our paper math thought it would be.

3: In St. Louis just going by zip code is too broad. Example: 63118 is great north of Cherokee Street, and drops off quite rapidly as you go south of Cherokee. You'll need someone to navigate this web of a city if you're not familiar with it. 

4: Again see #3. 63118 north of Cherokee a 1 bedroom apartment can be 600/mo, south 450/mo. Whereas a 1 bedroom in "The Grove" can fetch north of 900/mo fully renovated. 

Feel free to reach out if you'd like to discuss further. 

Cheers!