All Forum Posts by: Nathan Dehn

@Alan Grobmeier Why do you say STL will become the next Detroit? I've been hearing a lot of really good things locally, even started seeing national talk about STL as a good place to invest. 

Hey Marcus, I started investing a little over a year ago. My wife and I bought two duplexes so far (through house hacking) and are looking for more deals in the south STL city area. There are a lot of different neighborhoods in STL that suit different needs and goals that you have. Areas for long term appreciation, or BRRRRing, or nicer areas with multifamilies that will just reduce your monthly expenses but never fully cashflow. It just depends on what you're looking for. PM me if you'd like to chat!

I say it depends on the area. Chances are, this could be the top of the market for the specific location of your property. However, depending on your area, you could expect to see it appreciate much higher in the longterm. 

If you run the numbers and you can cash flow right now (even with a high mortgage payment) you might be best to hold on to it and capture the equity. However, if you think it can't cash flow and not worth your time. Maybe it's best to accept your loses. PM me if you want to chat more in-depth on your property! I love running numbers on stuff!

Where are you looking downtown? Curious to see what kind of properties you're looking at and in what location. 

Great website! Very simple! 

I don't know if this is logistically possible for you. But, since St. Louis (especially in the city) varies in price block by block, it'd be really cool if the user could select a specific area on a map. Like, 63116 will give you the very high-end TGS, or Holly Hills, but also Crodelet, and Dutchtown. 

I also like that you can then look at the specific listings available given your parameters. 

Saving this site for future use! 

I agree with Kyle and David. 

My wife and I have had trouble finding cash flowing properties on the MLS in the nicer neighborhoods. If you're willing to partake a fixer-upper, I've seen some properties where one unit is livable while the other needs complete repair. Or, one unit is rentable and the other needs major cosmetic updates.

Again, this might not fix your cashflow issue. But, it'd help your property to appreciate in value, live with little housing expenses, and get you a little more comfortable with managing a rental property and fixing up a place. 

Hopes this helps. Wish you luck in your search for a new home. And, feel free to reach out if you have any questions or want to bounce ideas off. 

My wife and I have bought 2 duplexes in the past year using house hacking and only putting 5% down. Great way to build longterm wealth and reduce housing expenses!

Hey Bart, I got two duplexes in south STL. It's a great city for RE investing! You just got to know the area you're investing in. Especially in south city where 3 blocks could be the difference between 300k houses and 80k houses. (Like where I live on Cherokee St.)

I know the area pretty well and would love to give you my humble opinion about certain areas if you ever want it. 

Another good area to invest (where a lot of out of state investors are going) is in north county (not north city!). A ton of good BRRRR candidates! a PM that's solid is Alann Severinsen of Provident Property Management (he manages mainly in north county).

If you're looking for a good tenant screening company, I use home screen. https://www.myhomescreen.org/

They are based in STL. Prospective tenants fill out the application on their website and pay the application fee. Then, they do all the work and give you a summary of the application and their recommendation. The process was SUPER easy and put my mind at ease knowing I accepted a good tenant to live in my property. They also offer a lot of other services that may be helpful for your future tenants.

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment.

My wife and I bought a duplex from a man who broke up with his girlfriend, moved to LA, and tried to manage the property himself with friends as tenants. He was highly motivated to sell but listed the property too high.
We will be rehabbing the lower unit while renting out the upper unit that is in good condition.

This is a great deal for us as we are learning how to invest, rehab, manage tenants, and put in less than $15k after the rehab.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

My wife and I needed a house, the upper unit provides a large rent, slightly less than our mortgage payment.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Found it on the MLS that was overpriced and had no interested buyers.

How did you finance this deal?

FHA loan

How did you add value to the deal?

We are rehabbing the lower unit.

What was the outcome?

TBD

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Be patient, it's a long process to buy a property.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Krista Hartmann- Realtor
Joe Poropat- Lender
Kent Stephens- Insurance Agent

Highly recommend each of them!

Hey Eric! Welcome to BP.

Where in St. Louis do you PM?

My humble suggestion:

Before you get started, read (or listen) to the BRRRR book. It makes a GREAT argument why adding value to properties exponentially grows your portfolio and wealth because your money isn't tied up in one property for a long time.

Since you're a PM, I'm sure you have connections to contractors and could be more hands-off for a rehab. So, that is one direction you could go. Is find a trusted GC and have him manage most of the rehab if this is an area you feel uncomfortable with. 

Or, the route my wife and I are going, we are looking into minor rehabs with only cosmetic updates in quickly appreciating areas (such as Benton Park/Benton Park West). This will not give us the equity to pull all of our money out of the deal with a refinance, but that is ok since we are house hacking and have put in less than 10k into the property. 

In short, the downside of investing in turnkey is your capital is wrapped up in one property and will take years for you to save enough money to buy multiple properties. I'd suggest finding a value add property. Read more about it in the BRRRR book.

PM me if you'd like to talk more!