Anyone investing in Waukesha County?

[Meg Roman]

Hey BP Community - I've been watching for a while and see lots of activity in Madison, Milwaukee and Green Bay, Wisconsin. Is anyone currently investing in or looking to invest in the Waukesha County area? If so, I'd love to connect!

[Marcus Auerbach]

Waukesha County is a quite diverse playground with currently a little over 1500 active SF listings - everything from rural to growing growing suburban neighborhoods and older urban markets. I can speak to the northern part of it. It's a completley different scenario than Milwaukee propper: of course price points are higher, but taxes are lower and school districts are better: we see some double digit population growth areas. There is definitley a notion to move out of the city - I hear that a lot from clients in the retail market for the reasons mentioned before, schools and taxes. This demand is also driving rents up, as there is a shortage of SF rentals. The areas between Brookfield and Menomonee Falls is developing and filling in fast. While Milwaukee is flat (0.18% population growth - I would argue it has been saved by it's more afluent areas; otherwise we'd see a big fat minus) Menomonee Falls and Sussex have seen almost 10% population growth. A new Cosco and SamsClub just moved in, there are at least 5 or 6 new subdivisions developed I know of and most of them in the 400 to 600k range, driving up the overall price perception of the area. There are zero developments for first time home buyers (250 k and below), but several condo development projects that try to service that market. At the same time there is some old housing stock in the same school disctricts that sells between 130 and 180k and provides good investment opportunities with acceptable cash flow and great potential for future appreciation (Not to forget substantial principal pay down due to larger loan amounts). BRRR can work really well as there is enough spread to make the back end feasable, same for flips. Low inventory of course is a challange: after being in the low 4s supply has droped down to 3.8 months which is very tight. Good rehab deals do pop up, but have accepted offers usually within a couple days, so both speed and cash (or hard money) are very much a requirement to participate. Long term hold SF deals are not that difficult to get and can be bought with conventional financing. I hope this helps, please feel free to contact me if you have any specific questions.