DM Urban Revitalization Plan areas and Rent Cert renewal

[David Hald]

Hi Des Moines community!

I've been absent from the forums due to finishing my master's thesis, which interrupted me in the start of my search several months back in the Des Moines area for a cash-flowing rental possibility.

Now that I've turned in the thesis (yaaaay!!!), I've hit the listings again and come upon a duplex that is included in the Urban Revitalization Plan (4A specifically); I understand there is some tax abatement on improvements up to $20,000 in 5 years on multi-families under 4 units. This would be a 2 unit building that probably needs more than 20k in rehab. Does anyone have any experience with the Urban Revitalization Plan areas and investing there? I am sure there are more details I'm missing but I would love to hear anyone's contributions on this. 

Also, the rental certificate is expired, so I was wondering where/how one renews this and how much it generally runs-please post links/phone numbers if you know!

Final question is beyond trulia and zillow's numbers, how do we find definitive property tax numbers for Des Moines properties? I spent about an hour today poking around Polk County tax assessor and other websites, and managed to locate this property but I couldn't find any specific numbers for taxes/tax history on the properties. Any ideas?

Thanks a lot, in advance! You guys were very helpful before, and I'm excited to hear more from you and possibly make it out to a meet-up while I'm in Iowa this summer!

Dave

[Jedd Braunwarth]

Is it a true duplex or a conversion? Careful as some areas they will require it to be finished as a single family if not a true multi. This just happened by Drake on a property.