2nd Time Investor moving to Kansas

[Joshua Buffington]

Hello all. Got hooked by listening to podcasts, now I want to kick my investing to the next level after I move from Alaska to Kansas. After my dad passed away in September I realized that I need to be closer to "home" to help take care of mom and be closer to the larger family. So there is the reason why I'm moving.

In Alaska I decided to invest in a rental property to help offset the cost of daily living in a rural place. Housing is tight in this community with purchase prices being reasonable, but rent is astronomical. We have a heavy transient population with a large industrial employer in town. With high salaries come high rent and I was able to get into my first rental fairly inexpensively and immediately capitalize on the high rent. 

Now, with my move to Kansas imminent, I've decided to study for my real estate license and take my gains from selling my primary home (took me 2 days to get a fullprice+ offer without a realtor) and invest into a multifamily housing unit. I have a few leads off the MLS, but would love to know how to infiltrate the back end of the real estate machine and find properties cheaper. I also look to figure out how to maximize my investment capital to purchase more properties with the same money.

At this time I'm looking at the eastern half of Kansas as my family lives in the SE and my wife's family is in Topeka. I'll probably look to base out of Topeka as well due to the opportunities it has.

I want to get plugged into Kansas, the market, the contractor scene and investors.

Thanks!!