New from Iowa, looking for a market to start in!

New Member Introductions
13yFollow

New from Iowa, looking for a market to start in!

Chad Michael
Iowa City, IA · Member since 2013 · 7 posts · 0 votes

Hello BP,

My name is Chad, I am currently a pharmacy student at the University of Iowa and have been a student of real estate for quite a while now through observation, reading, and realtor experience.... but I have no investment experience to call upon just yet.
I love providing patient care but real estate is where I intend to capture many future financial goals for my family. I would like to buy property (2-4 unit residential to start with) that is capable of purchasing more property and my first 5-10 year goal is to give my wonderful wife the opportunity of staying at home with our future family if she does not wish to work full time.
I have 1 more year left of school and then I have the flexibility to move wherever my wife and I wish. As of right now, I am simply trying to figure out which market will be best to start in and what the best analysis strategy for that is.
I look forward to meeting lots of friends here that I can exchange learning experiences and prosper with. Thank all of you in advance for this opportunity:)

Best,
Chad

0Reply
9 views

10 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Marco Santarelli
    Specialist · Orange County, CA · Member since 2008 · 2k+ posts · 623 votes
    13y

    Hi Chad Michael,

    Welcome to BiggerPockets!

    One year left must be exciting. I recall my last year -- I couldn't wait to graduate.

    There are many markets today that offer great investment opportunities. Depending on how you want to invest (rehab, wholesale, turnkey, etc.) you may not need to move to the market you chose.

    You'll find a lot market recommendations (and opinions) throughout the BiggerPockets forums, however, you may want to start with my free report, "2013 Housing Market Forecast" to give you a starting point.

    As I like to say, "Live where you want. Invest where it makes sense!".

    Continued success!

    0Reply
  • Mike D'ArrigoPro Member
    Turn key provider · San Jose, CA · Member since 2010 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    13y

    Chad Michael, just from the little bit that you said in your post, I'm going to assume that your strategy is buy and hold for cash flow. Also, since your goal is for your wife to be able to stay home in 5-10 years, high ROI that will allow you to quickly pay down your mortgages will be important. Some markets are good ROI and cash flow markets whereas some are better for future potential appreciation. There are some very good cash flow markets including Indianapolis, Kansas City and Memphis. Before choosing a market, you'll want to more clearly define your investment criteria and objectives.

    0Reply
  • Andrea P.
    Rental Property Investor · Roma, Italy · Member since 2013 · 63 posts · 19 votes
    13y

    Hi Chad Michael,
    I started with a low ROI SFH which is working fine.
    I am in the process to find another high ROI SFH.
    As international investor I have the entire United States to choose from.
    Therefore I have to choose the market first.
    I started to collect some data (see: http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/12/topics/89513).

    0Reply
  • Chad Michael
    OP
    Iowa City, IA · Member since 2013 · 7 posts · 0 votes
    13y

    Wow... Thanks for the welcome.. I didn't anticipate this much feedback so fast!

    Marco- Absolutely, school has been fun but cram sessions are only fun for so long.. I haven't felt things out for myself just yet, but I'm looking to buy and hold or sell/lease to own as a generic exit strategy. Is your report on BP or would a quick google search be sufficient? Thanks for the resource!

    Mike- My family has a small amount of buy and hold experience and that is where my comfort level is right now that's the strategy I intend to use. I'm looking for no less than 15% COCr and I'd like to keep my target GRM at no more than 9. But if I can have my cake and eat it too, I'd love to have an appreciating asset as well..lol. I've been keeping an eye on Kansas City and Memphis as possible investment opportunities so I'm glad that you reinforced that information. What are your thoughts on Houston and Jacksonville?
    Also, I'm trying to gather resources that others have had success with (so far I'm finding Morgan Brennan's articles at Forbes magazine and Altos research to have pretty consistent findings and I've been keeping an eye on BP as well.... which market analysis and projection media/resources do you refer to most frequently when you are looking for a new market and monitoring your current ones?

    Andre- Awesome thread, thanks for turning me onto that. I'll be doing research myself so if I'll contribute if I find anything worth while.
    On that note, I'm not endorsing this by any means, but I'm finding it extremely interesting and I intend to keep it in my peripheral. A professor by the name of Geoffry West did some work as a mathematician (I know, sounds far fetched already, but take a look..) that a lot of public interest developers are buying into (one of which is Joseph Minicozzi)... the general theme/theory is that suburban sprawl destroys inner cities so these developers of interest have a heavy emphasis on mixed use property development to restore old cities... Their rationale makes sense: low density property provides crap revenue and it's expensive to maintain... Apparently this is a big hit in Raleigh, North Carolina and they claim that generation Y seems to like the "hustle and bustle" of being down town and they also claim they aren't having any trouble getting the units occupied. Like I said though, I have no idea what results to expect from this in the future, but I'm not going to dismiss it as just "noise" just yet... so I'm probably going to pen some time in to study ownership details and management of Mixed Unit Housing. Don't know if that is of any help to you, but I thought I would share that...

    Thank you everybody:)

    0Reply
  • Marco Santarelli
    Specialist · Orange County, CA · Member since 2008 · 2k+ posts · 623 votes
    13y

    Hi Chad Michael,

    I don't post links to my website in the forums, but you will find my 2013 Housing Market Forecast on the homepage of my website. (The link is below...)

    Feel free to contact me with any questions.

    Continued success!

    0Reply
  • Phillip Dwyer
    Real Estate Agent · Henderson, NV · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 550 votes
    13y

    Have you looked in your own backyard? Do you plan to stay in Iowa City, or Iowa in general? You're in between the Quad Cities and Des Moines which may have properties that meet your criteria.

    0Reply
  • Chad Michael
    OP
    Iowa City, IA · Member since 2013 · 7 posts · 0 votes
    13y

    Marco- Thank you! I'll check it out..

    Phillip- The West Des Moines area offers good appreciating assets. and property is definitely affordable here.... Also, if you can find property that caters to students on the west side of the Iowa River (in Iowa City) there is a great opportunity for SFR cashflow properties with the 3 hospitals and the Univ. carrying the lionshare of I.C. labor and grad students.. The trick is finding someone who is motivated to let go of a good buy and careful screening so that students aren't destroying your property with keg parties... But I think my wife and I are set on moving south... and my strategy for right now, which I sincerely invite your thoughts and criticisms on.. is to zoom in on 1 or 2 markets with good ROI that is trending upward (among other factors like primary employers) so that I am primarily looking at hundreds of properties as opposed to thousands to prospect from...

    Thank you for your interest!

    0Reply
  • Phillip Dwyer
    Real Estate Agent · Henderson, NV · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 550 votes
    13y

    That makes sense. I went to Drake in Des Moines, and have been told by a few old classmates that the Iowa market for pharmacists is saturated due to the Drake and Iowa programs. So if you can get paid more somewhere else and dodge the snow, go for it!

    0Reply
  • David Beard
    Investor · Cincinnati, OH · Member since 2010 · 1k+ posts · 928 votes
    13y

    I think all of these would get you south into a promising investment area: Raleigh-Durham, Charlotte, Tampa-St. Pete, Jacksonville, anywhere in the Texaplex triangle.

    0Reply
  • Chad Michael
    OP
    Iowa City, IA · Member since 2013 · 7 posts · 0 votes
    13y

    Phillip- So you're a bulldog!.. fun fact, one of my good friends is the mascot at Drake sporting events. And that is pretty much it as far as pharmacy and the weather. In terms of demographics, it isn't in older pharmacists looking to retire and we are getting a big influx from the Dakotas and Illinois because their market is much more saturated than ours. And the old lady hates cold weather.. I think she's part lizard..

    David- Thanks for the insight. I have been reading a lot about Texas, but I always feel a little behind and inefficient when I have to read about the market situation in Forbes to finally get the picture. Do you have any resources or indicators that you don't mind sharing, which help you determine when a market has finally reached it's trough or is approaching a slowdown in rental rate growth?

    Thanks again
    Chad

    0Reply
Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.
Log InJoin for Free