All Forum Posts by: Bob Vollmer

Hi @Teri Feeney Styers, 

Sounds like a good event. How often do you hold these? I feel like there is a solid demand for some quality western slope meetups!

@Tom Echols As someone who is starting to actively look in the St. Louis area, I couldn't agree with the previous responses more. I think you'll have no trouble whatsoever selling higher priced homes assuming you can market them well and provide potential buyers with clear and concise information on the property. @David Ounanian hit the nail on the head with his comments that you can still see good cash flow and a more "stable" tenant pool. 

@Kyle Eckert had a great point with his COC numbers. I'm not necessarily looking for turn key properties (I prefer to either build from the ground up or force appreciation through renovation), but if presented with a solid property with data points showing what I'm comfortable with, I'd have no problem picking up some of these deals.

Hi Conrad,

**Spoiler - we are taking the remote landlord path, so I can't recommend any property managers***  

But, my wife and I just did this exact same thing. We had been living in Fort Collins for the past 10 years, but due to job/family decisions, we moved back to the St. Louis area this past July. We knew we wanted to keep our FTC home because we would eventually move back and also we wanted to try our hand at being remote landlords. We spent quite a bit of time reading up on the subject and setting up our systems in order to make it an easy transition. Luckily, we were somewhat flexible with our move date and there is such a great demand for rentals in our area of Fort Collins, we were able to find some great tenants in just two days. It also helps to start telling your friends and co workers that you'll be renting your place out. Referrals are always great! 

Some questions to ask yourself - Do you want to see cashflow? Or are you OK with just breaking even until you move back? Are you sure you'd want to move back into that specific condo? Would you be comfortable being a distant landlord? Would you be comfortable paying that 8-10% management fee? What is your reason for wanting a property manager? Will time of year affect your rental pool?

I think a few of the things that we had going for us is that we know our neighbors well enough so if anything seemed "off", they'd let us know in a heartbeat. We also have great friends that live nearby, so we call them from time to time and ask them to do a simple "drive by". We also contacted our local utility companies and asked if they had any landlord programs. ie. They won't turn off the power if tenants stop paying rent in the middle of the winter, they'll just notify us and we can cover the costs and fix the problem with the tenants. We also took a TON of photos and videos after we had moved out and cleaned up (Just in case). Unfortunately, there is no such thing as 100% tenant proofing, but we certainly tried our best. 

Online bill pay is another tool that we really like. The program we use is free and it reminds the tenants to pay on time and is really just a very convenient way to collect rent. 

Pretty vague and I know you were looking for property manager referrals, but it may be worth your while to consider being an out of state landlord. We spent the time up front to get a solid system in place and so far, I have no complaints. But as the saying goes, "hope for the best, prepare for the worst".

Hope you are able to keep your home! CO is an extremely tough place to leave. I miss it every day.

Just moved back to the area and looking to hit the ground running! great timing and looking forward to it Peter!

@Gregory J.  While I agree with a lot of what the article talks about, I think the author was painting with a very broad brush. I hate to sound cliche, but all real estate is extremely local. There are just so many variables with each and every city that it's impossible to group all markets together and say that the second wave of suburbanization is coming. Denver is just too different from St. Louis just like Austin is too different from Indianapolis. Each market is at a different stage of it's overall cycle, and what's working for one doesn't necessarily transition to the next.  

But as far as STL, I think it relates fairly well to the main point of the article. While I'm not an expert on the St. Louis market yet, even I can tell that the surrounding areas are seeing solid activity. That being said, I would hesitate to say the it will be a midwestern trend. As much as I'd love to see the trend shift towards the "burbs" like we've seen in the past, I can't honestly say that I believe it is happening. I guess the big questions for STL and the swing towards the suburbs are; How do crime rates compare in the outlying towns vs. the city? How do schools compare between the two? Do the surrounding areas have the necessary amenities? How much do prices/taxes differ? Is there a diverse job market that is providing higher wage jobs to stimulate growth? etc.

Great meeting some of you guys tonight! These should definitely happen more often. Hopefully next go around I can meet up with some of you that I didn't get a chance to talk with!

I'd have to agree with @Mike D. on this. Since our market has been so incredibly hot over the past few years, it is extremely hard to find a SFH that cashflows well. To be honest, your $280-$330 would be one of the better cash flowing properties that I've seen in quite a while. We are going to start seeing a lot of apartments and condos hit the market in the near future, so be sure to factor that in. With the recent work done to repeal the construction defect law, I only foresee even more multi family properties being built in the future.

@Peter MacKercher @Alicia Sierra Thanks for the great information! I'm definitely familiar with working in a hot market! My area has officially hit all time highs for prices and all time lows for inventory! Just looking at my local stats, Fort Collins has less than a month supply of homes with an average sales price of over $387,000 (that's including both attached and detached). Deals are definitely tougher to come by these days!

I'm glad to hear that I'm in the ballpark with the general Saint Louis market and also that it is doing well!  I'm working on getting a nice rental portfolio up and running sooner rather than later, but as I'm sure you know, you make the money when you buy! Peter, I'd love for some good brewery suggestions! That's one thing that i really love about where I live. The wide variety of local beer! Always fun to get out in the community and see what it has to offer!

Good afternoon fellow BPers,

My wife and I have been thinking of moving back to the midwest (St. Louis region to be specific) and I was hoping to hear from some experienced St. Louis investors, brokers, lenders or any other real estate involved person on the current and projected state of the St. Louis MSA market. I’ve started doing some preliminary research and It seems like the general St. Louis area is “slow and steady” in regards to the local economy and population growth (with some exceptions; St. Charles, Chesterfield, etc). From what I’ve gathered, there does seem to be a positive outlook for multiple industries, which in turn will lead to job growth. A few of the major employers (Monsanto, Boeing, Express Scripts and a few manufacturing plants) are planning for expansion in 2017, which will also help bolster the local economy. The health care sector continues to be the largest driver accompanied by the financial services sector. I would hope that these two industries continue to pave the way and help fuel regional growth, but I don’t really like to speculate too much. I’ve also heard rumors of STL gaining momentum as a tech and startup area? thoughts on that?

Unemployment does seem to be dropping as more jobs move to the area and existing employers regain confidence. I like the fact that the unemployment rate in St. Louis has dropped to the 4.5% range while some of the suburban areas are hovering closer to 3.6%. The population looks to be increasing, but just barely. And it doesn’t look like a whole lot is from migration. The outlying suburbs seem to be having a much stronger growth trend for the time being. Nearly all of my data has been coming from the BLS, the local chambers of commerce websites and the Federal Reserve’s “beige book”. While these sources are great, I was hoping to hear some sound advice/guidance from those who have “boots on the ground”.

Growing up just across the river, I know that neighborhoods change from street to street and that it’s incredibly important to have a solid knowledge base before jumping in. And just to clarify, I’ve been looking at properties south of 44 down to the Mehlville area and following 270-64 as far west as Chesterfield (big area, I know). I’ve also been seeing a lot of comments about the difference between St. Louis and St. Louis County. Any sage advice on what to avoid in either of these areas?

My plan would be to purchase small-medium sized distressed multifamily buildings that are in the path of progress and hold on to them for some cashflow. I'd like to be in the high C, low B class neighborhoods if these properties still exist. I also wouldn't be opposed to flipping a few SFR's if the opportunity presents itself, as that's what I've been doing in CO for the past couple years. Obviously there's a big discrepancy between what a home in St. Louis goes for compared to those in some of the suburban areas, but it seems like the general consensus in that the market is more or less "healthy". Prices are on the rise and demand for a good product is definitely there. So this is an area that I was hoping other investors or brokers would chime in on. Anyone involved in real estate knows that prices can change from street to street, so I'm blind as to where the "path of progress" is and what is considered a good place to invest. To me, it seems like the STL area is a sleeper and is poised for some great things in the next 8-10 years.

So what do you think? Am I in the ballpark? Or am I way off-base? Is the market over saturated with rentals? What are your thoughts on the Saint Louis metro area? I’d love to hear from some people who are currently involved in that space! Also, I’m going to be in the area within the next two months and I’d love to buy someone some lunch or a beer if I could pick their brain about the area!

Good afternoon fellow BPers,

My wife and I have been thinking of moving back to the midwest (St. Louis region to be specific) and I was hoping to hear from some experienced St. Louis investors, brokers, lenders or any other real estate involved person on the current and projected state of the St. Louis MSA market. I’ve started doing some preliminary research and It seems like the general St. Louis area is “slow and steady” in regards to the local economy and population growth (with some exceptions; St. Charles, Chesterfield, etc). From what I’ve gathered, there does seem to be a positive outlook for multiple industries, which in turn will lead to job growth. A few of the major employers (Monsanto, Boeing, Express Scripts and a few manufacturing plants) are planning for expansion in 2017, which will also help bolster the local economy. The health care sector continues to be the largest driver accompanied by the financial services sector. I would hope that these two industries continue to pave the way and help fuel regional growth, but I don’t really like to speculate too much. I’ve also heard rumors of STL gaining momentum as a tech and startup area? thoughts on that?

Unemployment does seem to be dropping as more jobs move to the area and existing employers regain confidence. I like the fact that the unemployment rate in St. Louis has dropped to the 4.5% range while some of the suburban areas are hovering closer to 3.6%. The population looks to be increasing, but just barely. And it doesn’t look like a whole lot is from migration. The outlying suburbs seem to be having a much stronger growth trend for the time being. Nearly all of my data has been coming from the BLS, the local chambers of commerce websites and the Federal Reserve’s “beige book”. While these sources are great, I was hoping to hear some sound advice/guidance from those who have “boots on the ground”.

Growing up just across the river, I know that neighborhoods change from street to street and that it’s incredibly important to have a solid knowledge base before jumping in. And just to clarify, I’ve been looking at properties south of 44 down to the Mehlville area and following 270-64 as far west as Chesterfield (big area, I know). I’ve also been seeing a lot of comments about the difference between St. Louis and St. Louis County. Any sage advice on what to avoid in either of these areas?

My plan would be to purchase small-medium sized distressed multifamily buildings that are in the path of progress and hold on to them for some cashflow. I'd like to be in the high C, low B class neighborhoods if these properties still exist. I also wouldn't be opposed to flipping a few SFR's if the opportunity presents itself, as that's what I've been doing in CO for the past couple years. Obviously there's a big discrepancy between what a home in St. Louis goes for compared to those in some of the suburban areas, but it seems like the general consensus in that the market is more or less "healthy". Prices are on the rise and demand for a good product is definitely there. So this is an area that I was hoping other investors or brokers would chime in on. Anyone involved in real estate knows that prices can change from street to street, so I'm blind as to where the "path of progress" is and what is considered a good place to invest. To me, it seems like the STL area is a sleeper and is poised for some great things in the next 8-10 years.

So what do you think? Am I in the ballpark? Or am I way off-base? Is the market over saturated with rentals? What are your thoughts on the Saint Louis metro area? I’d love to hear from some people who are currently involved in that space! Also, I’m going to be in the area within the next two months and I’d love to buy someone some lunch or a beer if I could pick their brain about the area!