Looking to buy and hold in West Allis, WI

Looking to buy and hold in West Allis, WI

Rental Property Investor · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2019 · 4 posts · 1 vote

Newbie investor and new to BiggerPockets as well. I’m looking to invest in my first house hack in my hometown of West Allis. My city has gone through a rough patch over the last few years as crime has increased and businesses closed down. However there is suddenly a lot of development in West Allis. New luxury apartments are being built in a few areas of the city as well as businesses such as gas stations, restaurants, a beer garden, a car wash, and some other “trendy” businesses that will bring in a new crowd. Project housing was tore down and abandoned houses were replaced with new homes. Homeowners are rushing to sell their homes and get out of the city due to the increase in crime. My question is, would it be smart to invest in this area with increasing crime, since there is such a huge spike in development right now? Also, on the latest podcast they mentioned we are in a bubble and they expect it to burst in 2-4 years. Should I invest now before development finishes and West Allis goes back to the desirable place to live it once was? Or would that be irrelevant considering theres expected to be a market crash in 2-4 years and values will temporarily drop anyways?

Basically

-I do not want to wait to buy in this area after its too late and development finishes

-I also do not want to buy anything right before a potential crash

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  • Property Manager · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2014 · 113 posts · 144 votes
    6y

    Hey Jared,

    It sounds like you are hoping for someone to step in with a crystal ball, I broke mine a few years ago and still can't find anyone who knows how to fix it!

    Kidding aside, where are you getting your information regarding crime in West Allis is trending up?  Big developments tend to get the news headlines, but the small businesses reinvesting in their local markets tend to have a much larger impact.  Mandel & Ogden will lease up their units then move to the next big headline, but the mom & pop retail shop that poured $100k into a new facade, logo, image or equipment are screaming loud and clear they are there for the foreseeable future.  Double B's is building a new restaurant downtown, Bass Bay is looking at a new restaurant near 81st and Lapham, the owner of the beer garden is building a meat shop on Becher, a hot new coworking business is opening up downtown, a building on 68th and National may become the next event and food incubator spot, Paulies spent a bunch of money on expanding, Drunk Uncle just finished a renovation...  I think you see my point here.

    West Allis has held itself back for years, but that's starting to change and they have some of the easiest upsides in SE Wisconsin.

    Re: your last comment "I also do not want to buy anything right before a potential crash".  If you take this mindset, you'll be sitting on the sidelines for a decade.  I bought properties in 2005, 2006 and 2007.  I bought them right, I still own 2/3 of them today and they did fine how I budgeted them for the market conditions.  They will be paid off soon and will net me around $2,000 / month in free cash flow.  Do I regret buying right before the biggest housing crash this country has ever seen?  Nope.

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