All Forum Posts by: Doug Omenski

I have used a service called Ruth's Home Works when looking for painting, electric, plumbing, etc. They are sort of like a local Angie's list. She usually gives me a few choices and then has them call me to schedule a walk through of what I am needing done. I have been pretty happy with them so far. 

I would look at anything south of Kellogg to start. I live in Maize and have one property at 47th S. And Seneca and another at West St. and Kellogg. Both do well for me and both were bought for less than $40K. They are not too close to where I live, but I have a property manager so after the rehab I don't really need to go to them often. I will say it was a pain doing to rehab at 47th and Seneca since it was about a 30 minute drive, but worth it in the end. Just look on Trulia or Zillow, there are so many good deals to be had don't get too worried about getting with wholesalers or direct mail or any of that. I do a lot of just driving around looking at houses on trulia. If I want to see inside I just click the button on the app and some hungry realtor will call in about 5 minutes.  I will say the really good deals only last a few days so you really have to move quick if you are using the apps to find properties, but they are usually at least a few great ones out there.

Augustine, 

If you have 100k to invest, I would not worry about getting a loan yet. There are TONS of houses in Wichita that you can get for 20-40k that just need a little fixing up. Banks do not want to give you a loan for these because the loan amount is so small and they usually need work, but they are perfectly happy to put a mortgage on them if they are fixed up and rented. If you by a couple 40k houses and spend about 10k apiece on fixing them up, you can then put a mortgage of about 50-60k on them and still cash flow. At that point you will have another 100 (maybe 110) to reinvest and continue to BRRRR.

In the past I have gone to H&R Block (rip off) or used turbotax for my taxes, but this year I bought my first investment property and do not really know where to start with my taxes. I have read that there are a lot of great tax implications in having a rental. Does anyone know of a tax firm in Wichita KS that deals with real estate investments?

$170 is totally doable in Central Park. My house is a 4 bed 3 bath and a windowless "office", three car garage, fence, sprinklers on a well, 2500 sqft. Granted we bought it in 2011, but there are still houses going up for sale all the time around here.

I would agree with Shane. Don't build, buy an existing house. I bought a house in the Central Park area for $170 that would have cost $250 to build. And that does not include a fence, well, landscaping, etc. unless you are building a house to live in forever, building does not make sense in Wichita.

I live in the Maize district and work on the east side. Really anything north of 21st St are all good neighborhoods and outside of the Wichita School districts. I would suggest looking close to K-96 and Ridge. That is really your gateway to the rest of Wichita. It takes me just as long to get to 96 as it does to get from there to work on N. Webb.

(Sorry for the mis-post) in my opinion the east side is not all it is cracked up to be. Bel Aire is ok, so is Derby or Andover. But those areas are more expensive with no real reason for the price hike. If you are looking to turn a home into an investment sooner or later, I would suggest buying anything west of Ridge Rd. On the west side of Wichita. It will rent fast and with good tenants. Crime is lower and N Maize Rd has just about everything imaginable.

In my opinion, the east

For what it is worth. I live in the maize district (sw corner of maize and 29th st.) and we love it. I work on the east side but there is easy access to K96 or 235 to get wherever you need to go. When my wife and two kids moved to Wichita four years ago we looked in the same places you are, but for the money we would have spent in Andover or elsewhere we purchased a home that already had a finished basement, fenced yard, well, etc. for what it would have cost to buy a new construction with no finished basement, fence, well, etc. (not to mention wet bar, walk out basement and huge back yard) for the same price in another suburb. We also have new market so close my wife walks to it occasionally during the summer. It is a safe and cheap area with decent schools that is not too far from any highway that will get you across town quickly.