Good Neighborhoods for Cash Flow and Appreciation

[Dennis Elverman]

Hello all!  I currently own a duplex in Washington Heights and am saving up for my next investment.  As of right now, I am probably a year or two away from having the cash to pick up another Washington Heights duplex (approx. $200k purchase price, $50k down for a commercial loan).  I am getting antsy, and can probably pick up something under $100k this summer, so I am expanding my horizons.

What are some other neighborhoods that people are investing in? I have looked at Washington Park, Martin Drive, and Uptown west of Loomis a bit, but I want to expand my horizons. Anyone investing in Clarke Square? Silver City? I heard at a recent REI event that Clarke Square and Silver City are up and coming neighborhoods, but I'd like to hear from people buying in these neighborhoods before I take the leap.

What about West Allis?  I know that it is a solid city, but I can't personally distinguish what neighborhoods are good and bad.  If anyone has any insight, I'd love to hear it!

[Rebecca Knox]

Connect with Lee Valentyn, project director of Clarke Square Neighborhood Initiative through Journey House if you are interested in Clarke Square. He runs a free Clarke Square landlord meetup that meets once a quarter and it's mostly landlords that have rentals in Clarke Square-a handful of homeowners. I go to those meetings whenever I can just to keep up on what's happening in the neighborhood. From what I know, it sounds like a lot of in your face prostitution going on....some of the stories were pretty funny but they are trying to crack down on that.  

West Allis was just brought up yesterday to me by another 'pre' investor who told me that someone told him that West Allis was a horrible place to buy--I personally told him that I believe the other guy doesn't want competition :) but also that neighborhoods much like scope of works, can be very subjective and dependent on your immediate resources and long term goals. I wholesale deals and I don't ever worry about West Allis deals--they go quickly. Reach out to Matt Maurice from Welcome Home Milwaukee--his business office is in West Allis and he is very familiar with that area--owns commercial and residential. My guess is Matt will tell you that West Allis and Kops are ok but I'm guessing Clarke Square may be shaky in his opinion at this time but Ryan Pattee owns a lot and is a big face in the Clarke Square neighborhood--his building has the Welcome to Clarke Square mural on it. 

Kops Park is another one---hot investor area with lots of activity and interest....people rehabbing in that neighborhood and buy and hold. 

You can sign up for neighborhoods you're interested in on Nextdoor and you can learn a lot about the neighborhood just from that--also, I have found some great contractors through there--you do have to have different email address for each neighborhood. I actually met Lee through Nextdoor.