Has anyone invested in north Dakota?

Question

I haven't been here long, but I have heard nothing postive about the market here. What are your experiences and stories investing here ?

Greg H. · Answer

Totally random deal for me but I bought and sold a property this year in North Dakota and made $5k or so. Never saw it

Jon S Strick · Answer

I own and operate an RV and mobile home park in North Dakota. Small town around 1000 people.

Solid cash flow but very reliant on a local in town that manages. There aren’t management companies in every town, so a person must be creative when looking for operation/property managers.

As for single family homes, they can cash flow quite well there, but a person can expect to sell for less or even (which is less in the future) when exiting. Referring to smaller towns.

Fargo is a booming area and could see buying multi family there.

Chris Potter · Answer

I purchased a SFH in Williston a couple of months ago.  Rents are still extremely high there so my CAP rate will be great, but the biggest challenge I have found is labor rates and availability of labor, hence the high rents.  The oil industry still pays high enough that it has inflated everything else.  The apartment vacancies went pretty high when oil crashed in '15 but have since come down.  They aren't super low yet but tolerable.  Vacancies on SFHs are lower so I shouldn't have a problem renting the house but I need to get some work done on it first.  I could have hired a contractor but I don't want to pay $100/hr for labor so I've really taken my time to find a good contractor at a reasonable rate.  I figure I'll have a great CAP rate if oil stays where it is and a CAP rate that is off the charts if oil surges again.  I am very interested in Dickinson, Bismarck, and Fargo, but haven't put in as much time to research them.  They seem like they may have economies that are more diversified than Williston.  I think ND is extremely under-rated and I echo other's comments here how I'm surprised more out of state investors aren't looking in ND with opportunities for such higher CAP rates than western states.

Ben Kappel · Answer

Oh and hey @Lee Gierszewski whats the chances of another meetup this spring,  itd be awesome to meet up. I'm all ready and looking for my next deal but figuring out what to go after is a tricky one.  I know ur more of a multi-fam, but what are your thoughts on some of these rentable condos for sale around town.  I was thinking about starting to make some offers on some 2 or 3 beds around town to pick up a couple lower cost properties this year instead of one bigger one, like 60-80k range.  As long as the HOA is reasonable and it has a good ROI.  Any big cons you could think of going that route?  The multifamily market doesn't look that great right now in town.

Jennifer Greuel · Answer

@Ben Kappel it is going well! Everything went well with closing. We have 2 units filled and working on the other 2 (not great timing w the holidays)

We looked at Bismarck but the rents are pretty low here compared to how much houses are selling for. We couldn’t find a deal that worked

Ben Kappel · Answer

GREAT TOPIC!  I would be bias since I have lived in ND my whole life, but I own rentals here and always wonder why there is not much talk of the state in the forms or marketplace. ND has consistently ranked in the top five states for the past seven years.(ALEC-LAFFER STATE ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS INDEX)  There is a great economy here with one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, and consistent population growth. There was a huge influx due to an oil boom, where homes tripled in price overnight and in 2014 the highest rents in the country weren't in Manhattan, but rather in Williston, ND.  That oil boom and since settled down and prices leveled out.  Oil towns like Watford City and Williston could be affected more if the price of oil crashes hard, but also could make serious money if we see $100 oil again. I'm not a risk taker, but I know many that do invest there. Even though I live in an oil town and work for an oil company, I look for investments in Dickinson, Bismarck, and Fargo, due to the stability and consistent growth, not to mention great cap rates. I do have one rental in Denver but to reinvest again there would require so much more capital with the super high home prices and a low ROI/Cap, doesn't seem worth it to me. That is why I'm surprised there isn't more people from larger cities looking up here for deals.

I would love to hear others opinions on whether or not to invest in the great cold snowy North!

Joseph Konney · Answer

In my opinion, it's hard to go wrong with a house hack that reduces your living expenses overall. Make sure to budget for all expenses, vacancy, and future capital expenses. Locking in interest rates now at historical lows is another perk of the market today.

Particularly in Chicago, I like north Austin and Wood Lawn areas.

Zeke Liston · Answer

@Ben Kappel Wow, that was an extremely interesting and informing post. Thanks for sharing! I grew up in an oil town too but now I live in Columbus, OH so the market is pretty stable now, haha!

Ben Kappel · Answer

@Jennifer Greuel Hey!  Ive been meaning to ask you how that 4-plex was going. Did everything go good with the closing, and how is it all going now?

Lee Gierszewski · Answer

I’ve been investing in Bismarck-Mandan for the past two years. I’ve got multiple duplexes, triplexes, and quads. The deals are out there, you just gotta find em. I haven’t had the courage to purchase a larger complex yet, but if I can find something that makes sense I’ll definitely try for it!

Has anyone invested in north Dakota?

Most Popular Reply