Bright Spots in St. Louis

[Megan Greathouse]

I often see people posting about St. Louis as a great place to buy inexpensive property with potentially high returns. The flip side that locals (like myself) usually bring up is that certain areas of St. Louis are dangerous, and you need to spend time in the area and on the street before you invest.

That said, there are certainly pockets that are turning around and showing lots of promise. This article shares some bright spots in an area of south St. Louis city where I bought a property earlier this year:

https://nextstl.com/2017/12/crime-st-louis-bright-...

The article points out some community activities that are likely helping... and I like to think that the number of investors who have been coming in to rehab properties and acting as responsible landlords is doing a ton for the community as well. What are your thoughts, St. Louis investors? What areas are going to see continued improvement in 2018, and what will help drive that?

[Donald S.]

:) I love St. Louis, it's a great market, but as great as it is, it can be a minefield. A minefield that requires good skills and a lay of the land to navigate. As for Dutchtown, it's a hit and miss area, some parts of it have gotten better over the past few years, some have gotten much much worse. I have hopes that I'll get in there and help clean it up over the next few years, but haven't found the right place yet. (although I do know a nice 4plex that is for sale in the nicer part of dutchtown, I just don't have the $$ for it yet, pm me if you want details.) 

Bevo is where I'm at for now, and that is further along in redevelopment than Dutchtown is. If you need a local to help navigate for you, PM me, I grew up there and still have friends in the area and I'm not far from the area, especially now that I'm invested there (or will be in less than 48 hrs).