All Forum Posts by: Rick Mapes

Hey @Brandt Moore - can you DM me your contact info? I only know one guy investing in Missoula right now, but he was interested in connecting.

Wow, that's really rough. Do most police departments offer that information up freely?  I haven't needed that personally, because I invest in my home town (happens to be Des Moines) so I have an anecdotal understanding of the crime rates in the neighborhoods, but never thought about getting real data around it.  Best of luck!

Hi Hailey, I live in Ankeny, and work in Ames - and have quite a few coworkers who invest in the Ames area and seem to really like the market. My sense is that Ames is 10-25% more expensive to get into for comparable houses/neighborhoods in the Des Moines area, but the university makes demand really high in Ames.

I don't have much experience investing out of state, so that's the extent of my ability to weigh in, best of luck!

I think it's good to consider other options, but as a central Iowa guy who spends a bit of time in Bozeman, the appreciation rates and instant equity (especially the in-town option) seem pretty compelling to me.  I think applying Iowa intuition to a booming market like Bozeman might miss the mark from that angle. I lean towards the in-town option for the STR option as well as the potential zoning issues Jim points out.  Unless you can leverage your professional contacts to get a reliable ruling on the 2nd home on the property option.  Good luck!

Nah, Des Moines is a terrible market to invest in.  You'd hate it here.  ;-)

Thank you very much for confirming my research coming up blank.  Really appreciate you taking the time to respond!

Greetings!  I'm sure this has been covered, but I've had no luck finding specifics.  My tax professional mentioned the new tax code includes a $10k cap on mortgage interest deductions for investment properties.  This has hit me pretty hard, I'd guess I have $20-25k in interest to deduct, and have historically.  This is in regards to Federal filing, but I'm in Iowa.

Are there any tax professionals that can confirm or deny that's the case with the new tax laws?  My research has not been able to find any specifics on this limitation.

Thanks!

Glad to hear you're getting some traction!  That >$1,500/mo market can be tough in general in central Iowa.  You have to find that tenant who can afford to buy a relatively nice house that still wants to rent.

I generally have to stalk Craigslist whenever I post for that reason.  Seems like everything I list gets reposted.  I keep thinking I should watermark my images or something.  Cheers!

Do you mind sharing some of the details of the square footage, neighborhood, rent amount, etc?  Maybe via PM if you're uncomfortable with it.  I just listed a house in Des Moines and got a surprising amount of interest, as I usually struggle in the winter.  I think a lot of people don't want to look around or load trucks in Dec/Jan.  Good luck!

I understand that to be correct ^^- the law treats it like a wheelchair or any other external accommodation that would be illegal to discriminate against.