All Forum Posts by: Darson Grantham

@David Paul, every Friday morning 7am to 830am we meet at smokey row downtown to talk real estate investing.  AND the 3rd Thursday every month is also a meetup of investors in the evening. 

Both options are great, no sales pitch, just good old fashion real estate investing networking individuals. 

Anyone interested in CENTRAL Iowa (Think Des Moines, West Des Moines, Norwalk, Ankeny, Altoona, Johnston, Urbandale and anywhere in between.  

I work with OOS investors and homebuyers in those areas, there have been a LOT of "guesses" and "opinions" in this thread on Iowa, and obviously, I also have my own.  To comment on all of the "non-expert" opinions here would be exhausting.

I'll tell you right now, you can invest in ANY market and make money, you just may have to "invest" in a different way in certain markets.

In Central Iowa (like many other cities) it is split into a mix between expected appreciation (low cashflow) and cashflow properties in areas that are not expected to appreciate as significantly and a TOTAL mix of everything in between.

I'd recommend calling some investors & investor-friendly agents in the area you are considering and just get their lay of the land, the market future and get a printout of previous sales so that you can see what/how many properties went for sale, what they sold for and what they rented for.  

Good luck and DM me if you want to dig DEEEEP into Central Iowa!

Hi @Kenton Kirk, as you can imagine property managers are typically pretty location-specific.  I've heard good things from Tyler and his team in the areas he covers!

I'm a realtor in the Central Iowa area and have 3-4 property managers I'm happy to share with you that I've had clients use successfully, just let me know if you are looking in Central Iowa and I'll send them your way!

@Peter Kozlowski that is EVERY market right now.  3-4 yrs ago the hardest problem flippers had was finding a good deal.  NOW those same deals are available but good contractors are not.  We are in Des Moines and although there are successful flippers here, its about finding a contractor and calculating the rehab on their numbers, not what you "expect" the numbers to be. 

@Matt Rice I'll shoot you an email also, but I've been helping folks from BP as an investor-friendly agent for a while now!  Has been a lot of fun and they are some of my favorite clients!!  Keep an eye out for my email!

@Max Matthias find a local real estate investing meetup and attend that!  Also find a realtor that is familiar with investors, like really familiar, not just someone who "can open doors" but someone who can consult with you and protect you during the buying process of an investment property.  

Try to get in the habit of watching investment properties that come up for sale and run the numbers and then see what they sell for to get an idea of the going "price per monthly rent" that you can expect, both on single-family and on small multifamily.

Regarding a lender, call around to local banks and credit unions and tell them your exact plan and ask for their terms sheet based on your income, credit history etc.  That way you have an accurate way to analyze properties based on your specific financing. 

Also, of course, make sure you read Millionaire Real Estate investor, The book on estimating rehabs, Long-distance real estate investing just to name a few!

Of course, feel free to reach out to me for any specific questions!

@Wei Jie Yang Yes, I've got all of the above for the Central Iowa area. large and small cities!

Hi @Kiraat Boukhari, Matthew Nuzum with Iowa Business Advisor is who I'd recommend.  It is going to depend a lot on exactly what you are needing out of an attorney, but so far Matthew has been able to help or guide my clients in a good direction for what they are needing help with. 

@Josh Sisley curious, 2 years into it now, how is it going? Are you hitting the platue?  Full disclosure I do have a Tom Ferry coach and absolutely love the network and accountability that comes with it, worth the entire $12k per year I spend on it EASILY. But I love hearing the update on new agents and how things are going.

@John Teachout is absolutely correct, when I have folks from OOS looking to invest in Des Moines Iowa, I'm always trying to get them to double/triple check local markets to themselves even a 2-hour drive would get away from most large "overpriced" cities but still decent cashflow in those areas.

BUT@Tereza Fernandez if you are set on OOS investing, I'm happy to share a bit about the Des Moines market and have contacts in other markets around the state to connect you with.

Send me a DM or give me some specifics on here of what you want to know about Des Moines market and I'm happy to share!