New Member/Investor St. Louis, Mo

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New Member/Investor St. Louis, Mo

Ryan Dossey
Real Estate Broker · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2014 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes

Hello my name is Ryan and I hope that you are all doing well. I am brand new to the real estate game and looking to dive in. I am young and hoping that will be to my advantage. I have been reading around this site as well as several blogs written by one of the other contributors here. I've read Rich Dad Poor Dad and a mentor/investor suggested Nothing Down for the 2000's.

I'm in kind of a strange middle ground. Being young I work full time and am married. We don't have a ton of money. I do have decent credit. However to our advantage we have no credit card debt, student loans, or car loans. My wife actually graduates undergraduate school this next week debt free!

I'm trying to learn as much as possible but I also want to get going as son as possible. I think analysis paralysis is what I want to avoid.

I'm open to any suggestions, tips, or recommendations.

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Bob Hines
Real Estate Investor · StL, MO · Member since 2008 · 296 posts · 152 votes
12y

Welcome Ryan! The St. Louis region offers lots of areas of low and moderately priced real estate so you can start investing without needing lots of cash. North County Section 8 rentals and City are two of the biggest draws for long term buy and hold I am aware of. I stick to South City.

Since you're starting fresh, take a look at a Zip Code map and start finding areas that you are familiar with or think you would like to start working in. Then head to Realtor.com and start looking up housing prices to see if the price ranges will work for you. If your preferred areas don't work for what you can afford, start looking at nearby areas or just start picking areas. After finding the prices, start looking for rental amounts on Craigslist, Zillow or any of the other websites that have that information. Once you compare the rental rates to purchase costs, you may need to check other areas. When you do find a handful of Zip Codes to focus on, go drive them. Things can change block by block, especially in the city. Look for the major intersections or streets where things change so you can narrow your search criteria some more (West of Grand, South of 44, Dogtown neighborhood etc). At that point, if you could purchase a property (cash or financed), find an agent and start looking at properties. If you don't have enough to purchase a property, contact an agent and have them set you up to receive emails from the MLS of all properties that meet your requirements. I get automated daily emails of SFRs and Multis that meet my buying criteria. Look through all the listings, get familiar with prices. Go and look at properties, even if you just drive by and look in windows. With the email, you can mark Favorites and watch them. You can see how fast they go off the market and if you keep them on your Favorites once they are under contract, you can see how long it took to close and what it sold for. The goal is to have such a knowledge of the market that you know what is a good deal and know when to swoop in when one pops up.

Good Luck!

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  • Dave VisayaPro Member
    Moderator
    Audio Engineer and Investor · Cebu City, Cebu · Member since 2013 · 7k+ posts · 881 votes
    12y

    Hey @Ryan Dossey welcome to BP!

    BiggerPockets
    0Reply
  • Jaren Barnes
    Real Estate Coach · Chicagoland · Member since 2013 · 502 posts · 101 votes
    12y

    @Ryan Dossey Welcome to the community! I'm also a young guy and married. If you ever have any questions feel free to reach out! See you around the site.

    0Reply
  • James Dunn
    Edwardsville, IL · Member since 2012 · 28 posts · 2 votes
    12y

    @Bob Hines @Rick L. @Ryan Dossey @Dan Heymann

    Hey guys. Sorry I didn't get a chance to track you down at the SSIC meeting. Struck up a conversation with someone right after I got there, and before I knew it, the meeting had started. Were you guys able to meet up?

    @Phillip Vincent are you one of the organizers at the SSIC meeting?

    0Reply
  • Rick L.
    Investor · Saint Louis, MO · Member since 2013 · 198 posts · 25 votes
    12y

    Yep, I was there. I got there right before the main presentation started and ran into another BP member. We'll have to meet up next month! Just send me a PM.

    0Reply
  • Patrick Yungck
    Glen Carbon, IL · Member since 2014 · 25 posts · 7 votes
    12y
    Phillip Vincent Dan Heyman James Dunn Ryan Dossey I have to chime in on this feed and say that it's great to see other St. Louis Metro Area investors. I'm currently on the Illinois side in Edwardsville and have been looking for multifamily and commercial retail in St. Louis such has Richmond Heights to as far as Chesterfield. Phillip Vincent I would like to hear more about your rehab business and anyone else who would like to speak. I always love meeting other investors especially in the STL area.
    0Reply
  • James Dunn
    Edwardsville, IL · Member since 2012 · 28 posts · 2 votes
    12y

    @Patrick Yungck I live in Edwardsville too! We'll have to grab lunch sometime.

    0Reply
  • John Van UytvenPro Member
    Property Manager · Oconee, IL · Member since 2014 · 536 posts · 202 votes
    12y

    Hi Guys

    I am currently living in South Korea, and but I am from S. Ill.

    I also plan to start my investing, in the back home area.

    Hope to meet some of you in the future.

    Even though I am living in South Korea, I might have a wholesale deal in the works from here.

    If you know of someone who would be interested in an Illinois wholesale deal.

    What kind of deal do they usually look for.

    I will be working on this but nothing solid as of yet.

    0Reply
  • Patrick Yungck
    Glen Carbon, IL · Member since 2014 · 25 posts · 7 votes
    12y
    James Dunn absolutely! PM me and we can work something out here soon.
    0Reply
  • Brandon TurnerPro Member
    Investor · Maui, HI · Member since 2009 · 13k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    12y

    Hey @Ryan Dossey

    Podcast Guest on Show #92
    0Reply
  • Ryan Dossey
    OP
    Real Estate Broker · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2014 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    12y

    Hey guys figure I should chime in. I went to the SSIC but got there just before start and had to leave pretty quickly. Hopefully I'll make it to another one here sometime soon.

    James Dunn I may have some questions for you in the near future. I may lean on your expertise/familiarity with locations on the other side of the river.

    0Reply
  • James Dunn
    Edwardsville, IL · Member since 2012 · 28 posts · 2 votes
    12y

    Sounds good Ryan. I'll be glad to help out any way that I can.

    0Reply
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