Anyone from SW Iowa?

[Brandon Turner]

Hey everyone,

I've got a lead on a small apartment complex in Sigourney, Iowa. The numbers seem decent... but I know NOTHING about this area. It seems like a really small town which makes me nervous. 

Anyone close by and can tell me anything about this area? This would include Iowa City, Oskaloosa, Uttumwa, and maybe even Des Moines :)

Thanks!

[Thomas Fosnaugh]

I'm in the Cedar Rapids area - my wife's parents used to live in Ottumwa and I've worked in that general area some.  Sigourney is a pretty small town in a very rural area.  Ottumwa is a big meat packing town, Fairfield is small college town, Riverside has a casino, Amana/Kalona are Amish areas.

Biggest issues in that area I would think would be proximity to jobs and meth.  Also, some of the small multi-family built in 70s and 80s in Iowa have wood foundations and most properties above a duplex are zoned commercial (much higher taxes) so you have to form a Coop or Condo (S Corp) to convert to residential status to drop the taxes.  Also seems to be a fair amount of Orangeburg pipe that was used in Iowa in older properties.