St. Albans, Kanawah County

[Jim Nelson]

Hey Everyone. First time poster after having had my membership for a few months and listening to the podcast for about 2 weeks. A great place for information on all things real estate!

Here is the question: I have an opportunity to buy a fully remodeled 3,000sf 4br/2.5BA home in St. Albans through a trusted client who gets interesting real estate opportunities from time to time. He sent me this particular deal and its a home recently appraised for 224k that he can buy and sell to me for $180k. Its currently on the market to rent for $2,000/mo where its been for about a month now. I am doing some preliminary research and just wondering if anyone knows the area and what the pitfalls of investing here might be. Is this a good rental market? If I decide to turn around and sell is there demand to own homes in the area? It appears to be a small suburb and just wondering why someone would want to live / rent here (or not). Thanks in advance for any insight you might have and be willing to share!

[Timothy Doenges]

@Jim Nelson another thought—head over to Rentometer and do a trial report for a 4 bed home. Put in the address of the property. This should give you an idea of rents in the area. Or, go to craigslist and see what rentals are going for in the area. Being somewhat familiar with St. Albans, and Charleston’s market as a whole, 2k a month rent feels a bit high, and it’s better to confirm that number with due diligence than to take the word of another. Remember, “trust but verify.”