All Forum Posts by: Ashley Noethe

Hi Jacob, congrats on making the decision to start your investing journey! I am both an investor and a realtor in the Des Moines, Iowa area. It looks like most of your questions have been answered by the other responses. I agree you'll need 20-25% saved for down payment and closing costs for your purchase. You don't "need" a property manager, but managing out of state would not be an easy task especially as a first-time investor. It's doable for sure, but I'd suggest having a PM initially. As far as you parents, I would put your financials together to walkthrough with your parents that detail out the purchase, mortgage, expenses, cash flow, appreciation, etc. 

In terms of the Des Moines market, finding a multifamily in the $100-$150K would be extremely tough. Even if you could, you'd likely be looking at an older conversion property that will likely need consistent maintenance and wouldn't have the best appreciation. That being said, those properties can have great cash flow. If you have questions about this market in particular or want to see some examples what is currently out there and what the numbers would look like, feel free to reach out. 

Hi Daniel! Welcome to the world of Bigger Pockets and real estate investing. I am both a realtor and real estate investor located in the Des Moines area - Indianola to be exact. My husband and I have done multi-family and single-family, airbnb, flips, and creative financing. A little bit of everything. Happy to be a resource for you. Best of luck with your journey!

My question would be, what is the condition of the property? $125K is a low asking price to make cash flowing more possible, especially with two units. That being said, if it is an older property that cash flow can all be washed away quickly with continual maintenance and repairs. We have a 5-plex we bought for $125K in 2019 and it cash flows like a boss, but it was built in 1900 and we have had some repairs to deal with. It is still profitable, but just another consideration for people who get heart eyes when seeing the cash flow but don't realize the maintenance they are getting into. 

Hi Jenna! Welcome and congrats on making the decision to dive in, particularly in Iowa! I am located in Indianola, Iowa just 15 miles south of Des Moines and I am both a realtor and investor. We have a single family we BRRRed (ish .. we ended up selling on contract rather than renting) and a 5-plex here locally. We have done a few other investments too, including an airbnb cabin in Georgia we were superhosts too when we did that. Happy to answer questions you have about Iowa in particular or just in general. Feel free to reach out. Wishing you luck!

Hi Tiff!! I'm an investor and realtor in the Des Moines area as well! Sounds like you are off to a great start with house hacking AND your first value add rental property. I am located in Indianola. My husband and I have a 5-plex rental here we bought 4 years ago, a handful of homes in Iowa we seller financed, have done a couple flips/renos, and also had a short-term rental cabin in the Georgia mountains. You could say we've done a little bit of everything! Haha. Welcome to Bigger Pockets! Happy investing! 

Hi Cole! I am a realtor in the Des Moines metro and have a few investments. We have a 5-unit commercial multifamily in Indianola that cash flows fantastic, but is an older property. You'll find that, like anywhere, it is hard to find both cash flow and appreciation properties so it depends what you are going for. The city of Des Moines and most of the metro areas do have rental inspections and certificates required unless you focus on a smaller rural area less than 15,000. In Indianola (15 miles south of Des Moines) they just started rolling out inspections given our population growth. All that being said, I love this market. It is growing, it is comparatively affordable, and was just named the #1 metro area for young professionals and Iowa was named #1 state to retire. What is your budget? 

My husband has a small flip property almost complete in Dubuque that could be an STR depending on what you are looking for.

I agree with what was said above, if it is not taking a huge chunk of your time and you don't mind it .. then just self-manage. We did it backwards, we got property management when we got our first property and then I ended up dropping it and now just self-manage. We use Zumper for screenings and ClearNow for automatic ACH payments (though our multifamily in town some pay money order or Venmo). I actually like it better having more control over tenant placement, repairs, etc. I don't think there is a right or wrong answer, just depends what works best for you!

I find my own renters and then screen them using Zumper (credit and background check for $30 which they pay for). Honestly, I had much better experience finding my own than when I used to pay for property management. If you let your friend stay, I don't think you should discount rent. You should be able to both find a quality tenant and still receive market rent. 

Were you able to find anyone? I am an agent in the Des Moines area and can refer you to someone over in Cedar Rapids. Feel free to shoot me a message.