What $60,000 buys in North County, St. Louis

[Gunnar Teltow]

After talking to a few potential lenders, it looks like they all require a $50,000 minimum property value for it to be eligible for financing. So we had to move upmarket (such as it is) in North County!

Instead of buying $30,000 houses that rent for $700, we're now buying $50-60k houses that rent for $1,000 or so. The tradeoff for the weaker cash flow is better quality tenants and some appreciation potential. Here's what $60,000 will buy you (closed on it last Friday):

• 9638 Chicago Heights Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63132
• 4/2
• 1,560 SF
• rented to a quality tenant with two cats for $995/mo., which is about $100 below market but she would like to stay and has been great with upkeep and timely rent payments
• $57,786.45 per HUD-1, plus some commissions to my local agent and the inspection
• even with all-equity, this is a great investment property. After financing, it will become a cash cow of epic proportions.

This deal came to us because a large private equity shop backed out of the contract so we stepped in. This is unit #31 in our portfolio. The point of this post is to encourage everyone who is thinking about it but hasn't pulled the trigger: get started, get out there, and the deals will start finding you :)