Would You Invest in St. Louis or Omaha?

[Chris Winslow]

Hello BP,

I am looking at switching jobs in the near future and right now it looks like it might be between 2 jobs, one would be near Saint Louis MO and the other near Omaha NE. Since I ultimately want to make real estate a large part of my portfolio, I want to consider the location for investing long term when I accept another job. Right now, I am still new and have not made any purchases yet but am hoping to once I have a more stable job location.

If you were choosing between STL or Omaha, which would you pick and why (or why not)?

Any input that the community has would be great! Benefits/drawbacks, population growth, potential appreciation, strategies, best investing areas, price/rent ratios, job types in the area, etc.

Thank you!

[Kyle Godbout]

My unbiased opinion would be Omaha:)

Ok, maybe it’s a little biased. But, I do love this city. We have a stellar rental market and slow growing appreciation. This may not be everyone’s ideal recipe, but if/when markets drop, I enjoy the minimal disruption here. 

And we have a nice zoo.