All Forum Posts by: Max Householder

Hey Adam, welcome! My wife and I invest on the side targeting small multis in south city. We currently own one 4-family. We have been looking for a second property all year and have yet to snag one. The best deals on paper that I've seen from the MLS are in fringe areas at best. Anything in or near the "hot" areas like Tower Grove seem wildly overpriced to me. Fox Park has become a hot area for rehabs if you have an appetite for more of a project.

I find my self targeting more boring/stable areas like 63109 (we live in this zip and own the 1 property here as well), Christy Park, and Bevo. It's not as exciting as the rapidly appreciating areas, but you've got a lot of solid blue collar and immigrant renters and less crime. That said, there is hardly any inventory in these areas and without the appreciating property values, anything that needs a decent amount of work doesn't pencil out for me.

Around Cherokee is a good place to look, but be very careful as it is extremely block-to-block. IMO stay north of Potomac, East of Pennsylvania, and probably south of Wyoming. The closer to the commercial strip there, the better. I would recommend contacting my agent/PM @Peter MacKercher to get some valuable insight on the lay of the land in south city. I believe @Megan Greathouse is a client of Peter's as well. Good luck! Shoot me a PM if you want to talk further.

We use Tyler from BPG and he was great! They run a nice operation over there. Very easy to book, pay, and get a thorough report all online.

I assume you mean St. Louis, MO (Missouri). If so, I would highly recommend getting in touch with @Peter MacKercher. Good luck!

This made me LOL! Brilliant turn of phrase. Well done, sir!

I would strongly echo Kyle's comments. Unless you're very familiar with the block-to-block nuances of north county, your best bet is probably to stick to Florissant, Hazelwood, or Bridgeton addresses and then dig deeper into your specific neighborhood from there as best you can.

As a more general rule of thumb, if you're looking inside the I-270 loop, I would stay west of I-170. Outside of the I-270 loop I would stick within the boundaries of Florissant, Hazelwood, and Bridgeton. Skip Black Jack, Spanish Lake, and unincorporated STL County.

Why on earth would anyone choose to own rentals in The People's Republic of Seattle anymore? Even for a city government, this level of stupidity is unbelievable.

Seattle Bans Landlords From Running Criminal Background Checks

We hired a CPA for the first time last year and liked them a lot, Mike Croghan (Croghan & Croghan CPA) in Kirkwood. We have one 4-family that we purchased in November '16, so our return included a real estate investment for the first time and they had no problem incorporating all the necessary paperwork for it. Whether they have experience doing taxes for larger, more complex portfolios, I have no idea. If you have specifics on what you need them to be able to do, I'm sure they'd be happy to talk or meet with you to see if it's a fit.

We liked them because Mike was really easy to get a hold of via phone or e-mail, took the time to meet with us in person, and was extremely reasonable cost-wise compared with the other accountants we spoke to. It's very much a local mom & pop accounting firm. We'll be using them for the forseeable future.

Alton seems to have a fair bit going for it. I love Fast Eddies and Old Bakery Beer Company. It seems like parts of the downtown have been turned around. It's also a gateway to Grafton, Pere Marquette, and the wineries and stuff out that way. I have no idea on population stats or jobs or whatever, but I can't really see it totally going downhill just based on geography. Edwardsville has a lot going for it with the college and it's well-situated. Chicago is losing population a massive pace and I think some could find a lot to like in southern Illinois if they don't want to move all the way to another state. Again, this is just my perception.

It also seems like Bethalto, Wood River, and Granite City have more business and industry going on, but I don't know if 1) that's true and 2) whether people live there or they live in Edwardsville or on the Missouri side and commute. Collinsville is close to Scott AFB so that's good. Overall the Metro East seems like a good place to invest if you're looking for stability and low cost of entry, but probably not a ton of long term upside.

Beware, however, that you're in The People's Republic of Illinois and their government is bankrupt both financially and morally. They'll be one of the first states to actually go under so make sure your investments don't rely too much on state employees or state funding for all the nearby infrastructure and can handle large property tax increases down the line as they try to stave off the inevitable. In the metro east you're close enough to 3 adjacent states (MO, IN, KY) that the local economy might be a little more insulated from a statewide financial meltdown.

I have some friends who moved to Waterloo and they love it over there. I've been to the downtown there a few times and it's really neat with shops, restaurants, and 2 craft breweries. It's a great place to spend an afternoon. I imagine that investing in small/rural towns is its own can of worms, but that might be one nearby area to look into.

I haven't seen any investors state that they target North City for their investments. Quite a few folks on the forums here invest in north county SFR and do well at it. If you come across anyone (non-local) who's specifically targeting north city, I'd be interested to hear their rationale.

Thanks for the kind words on my personal blog! I'm hoping to find more time to write on there since right now it's maybe once per quarter, lol.

Like JP said, you will need a lot of on-the-ground experience and intel to successfully invest in the rougher parts of St. Louis. Many investors avoid these areas altogether. You said you are a newbie, so I would say maybe stick to the more stable areas of the city. There are plenty of neighborhoods in South City that are rough around the edges, but have catalysts for turnaround and growth in place or coming into place very soon. I just don't see a lot of short-to-medium term upside in north city at present.

If you really want to get into a high risk/reward neighborhood like 63115, maybe partner with someone who has a proven track record of success there and learn the ropes before diving in yourself.

Dirt cheap properties are generally dirt cheap for a reason. Like Warren Buffet says, it's better to buy a great company/property/asset at a fair price than a fair company at a great price.