Rental Property Investor · Long Beach, CA · Member since 2015 · 623 posts · 155 votes
Hi All,
I'm looking to buy my first property in Indianapolis, it's a duplex. Being in California I need to find a property management company. Please send me any recommendations you have.
Multi-family props do not do well in the Indianapolis area because of an assortment of reasons.
They are difficult to keep both sides rented.
They are mostly located in less desirable areas. As most people like to put letters on areas lets just say C-, D, and F areas. I don't know if anyone uses the letter E.
Your rents are usually between $300 to $550 in rent. Sometimes higher but not by much.
Your class of tenant will probably not really care much about the property and leave it a mess when they are done with it. Not all but many.
You will probably not be able to sell them for anything more then what you bought them for. They are strictly for cashflow, not appreciation.
I'm sure there are other reason that other people can mention but these are just some of the basics.
Now I do know of investors that do make them work but they are few and far between. I do have one investor who has no problem renting out his multi's but they are located in a much more desirable part of the city. I also have a friend that bought a multi and he lives in one side and rents out the other. His tenant is paying off his mortgage. Great when it works.
Now I am not saying not to buy multi-family. I just think that one should do their due diligence before making the purchase. The numbers can look great on paper but when realty hits. Those numbers go right out the door.
Thanks @Justin Owens. I'm hell bent on trying to find a good place MF or SF sub $50k ish that will bring in at least $1k/ month gross.
Any suggestions? Anyone?
Does not exist, maybe if you were local and could manage it like a hawk. Or you Rehabbed a shell that you got for peanuts.
If you try to but this long distance I'll almost guarantee you'll lose money. Indy is a great market and there are plenty of us here that can point you to money making property.
It's telling that even those of us that live here, at least most of us, would avoid any sub 50k duplex. If we can't make it work locally, don't try to force it from the other side of the country.
Real Estate Broker & Investor · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2012 · 218 posts · 83 votes
11y
Regarding the comments on gentrification in Indy....yes it has and continues to occur....but understand that it is a process thats measured in decades, not years. Fountain Square was a popular neighborhood in investing circles back in 2003/4 when I first started...the folks who were buying back then have now done well, but they had to slog through a lot of years. The Cultural Trail has been a major bump for the area, commercially. Fall creek place, for example, was a major public/private partnership that took two decades to play out.
The area being discussed here by Douglas is not where I'd go if I wanted to do high risk investing. I'd look at midtownindy.org , NEARIndy.org, and other such groups, and see where funding and govt backing is being focused.
Finally, rent ratios...you can get close to 1.5% in decent and stable neighborhoods if you are really hunting. Much more typical is about 1.3%, which is not too hard to find.
Rental Property Investor · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2014 · 354 posts · 167 votes
11y
@Jeb Brilliant - the duplexes in the Castleton neighborhood are going for about 150-160k now but when I purchased them it was in the down of the market for much less. We have experienced great appreciation as well as great income. The duplexes are sold within days of hitting the market. They are desirable for RE investor starters with living in one side and renting the other. Most of the properties are sold off-market between investors.