All Forum Posts by: Laura Williams

I use State Farm & just got a quote on a Westport triplex (180k) that is over 100 years old & was $85 a month. Have another house 4/2 in Blue Springs built in the 80's for 110K that I pay about $42 a month for. So $60 a month might be about right from State Farm. If you PM me I can give you my guys number if you want to compare. He does a lot of investors. Shelter insurance is suppose to be good in Kansas City as well.

From what I've seen/heard 2/1 do well in young hipster areas but in the suburbs the 4/2 rent the quickest & have less tenant turnover.

I use State Farm and my rates are much lower than that. Just got a 3/2.5 house built in 1983 for $519 a year including 500K liability with 2% deductible. I'm not sure how it compares with replacement and loss of use to yours but might not hurt to get a comparison from another insurance company?? If you PM me I can give you my guys info. I've also heard Shelter insurance is suppose to be decent in the KC area. 

@Brent Kiger

I had termites found in one of my properties. From what I understood it's not a huge deal as long as they haven't destroyed too much of the wood….supposedly the termites in KC aren't that aggressive as in other parts of the country. To treat them the cost was $500 and that is suppose to be good for 20 years. With that being said I would definitely get a structural engineer to look at your floor joist and the structure part of the house especially if you are noticing something that doesn't seem right & since termites were found. It's not expensive…a couple hundred bucks. I just had a house under contract where the whole structure needed a new center beam and floor joist had wood rot. I was able to negotiate 20K less in price to fix the problem. Was definitely money well spent to get the structural engineer in there. 

@John Powell

Yeah the LLC for single member in Missouri is super easy ...it's not like in other states where you have to file paperwork every year or pay any additional fees after you open it. It's a one time fee. Also if you use a lawyer to open your LLC ask him to be your registered agent. Most will do it for free and will save you money from having to hire out the service.

I don't separate each home .....I do the equity stripping but that is a personal preference. Everyone does it differently. 

You can get liability insurance very cheaply there. I use State Farm umbrella liability policy ....it's a flat fee of $250 for up to 25 properties and each house covered for 1 million dollars liability. You do want to check that the property isn't in a flood zone. The insurance rates are really high for those and it will eat into your cash flow. 

I do have a name of a property inspector...just PM me and I'll give you details. 

Past the 435 Loop is decent. Look at the ratings for the good school districts and try to buy in the best that makes investor sense. In general the really good school districts in the KC burbs are all good areas for investing & getting good quality tenants. Parts of Raytown, Grandview, Independence are all good for rentals...some parts of these aren't so great so you'll want to get some local feedback to be sure. Have friends that invest in Belton, Blue Springs, Lees Summit and Grain Valley who are happy there too. North Kansas City ..north of river is also mostly good. And downtown and urban core (west of Troost to Kansas State line)...areas like Waldo, Hyde Park, Westport, Brookside, Country Club Plaza are also mostly really great although those areas are hard to make cash flow work from an investor point of view. In general (with a couple area exceptions) you want to stay away from East of Troost Street in the urban core....it kind of falls off a cliff once you cross that street & turns ghetto and also I'm not a fan of the North East KC. Had a friend who bought a bad turnkey there that lost a ton. 

I'd say if you can go visit and really get to know the areas...drive around....meet with people.  Try to buy in an area that you would feel comfortable living in yourself would be my advice. Nothing like being there  in person and getting a gut feel.  

@John Powell

From my experience gutter cleaning will depend on how many trees are around the property dropping leaves into the gutters. Once or twice a year it's probably good to get them cleaned ...depending. They do have radon issues in KC but of course not all houses have that. I heard it's relatively inexpensive to check and fix. I've had several problems with the sewer & water pipes on a couple of my older houses but they are usually good for a long time after they are fixed. It will depend on the age of the house you buy as I doubt you have to worry too much about that on a newer home. You will probably want to get the chimney inspected especially on an older home if you are venting out the furnace through the chimney to make sure it's not leaking into the home. 

It's not difficult at all to place a home in an LLC. Missouri LLC single member are super easy to form. You can do it online for a one time fee of $50 or hire a lawyer to do it for a couple hundred bucks. No future fees and no need to submit any paperwork to the state ever in the future. I believe if it's an LLC with 2 or more members it's probably a bit more complicated but single member is very easy.

I'd be careful where you buy in KC and get several professional & local opinions on the area of the property you're interested in before you buy. There are some unscrupulous turnkey places selling in bad areas where an investor (especially out of state) could get really burned. Also have heard other investor friends complain about bad rehabs from turnkey places so get a good home inspector in there before you purchase as well. 

@Sascha DeWitt

I invest in those areas …LOVE LOVE LOVE. But the numbers are definitely tight for an investment and were much easier last year. I would say you're very lucky now if you could get a 1% return there. Occasionally I see one but you have to act and be super aggressive cause they get swooped up in 2 seconds. 2 bedroom/1bath in Waldo rents about 1K a month & good quality tenants. From my experience places in Hyde Parkish area do rent much quicker (multiple applications on open house) than Waldo which might take about a month. Also those older homes seem to have more issues than the newer built so repairs have been a little more. I've had to have new water and sewer lines in a couple. Also check to make sure the foundations are good in Waldo as a lot have issues there cause of the cinderblock foundations. The stone foundations seem to be a lot more stable. Hope this helps :) 

@John Powell I have all my KC houses treated for termites as a preventative. The treatment supposedly last 20 years and is about $500. As far as changing filters my tenants are responsible for that & my property mngt explains all that to them. In regards to inspections and tune ups (with my PM) that would be up to me how often I wanted them to do that as well as things like cleaning the gutters etc. I pay their handyman by the hour plus supplies or pay for whatever specific professional services that is needed/wanted. I believe I do get better rates on the services due to economies of scale with the PM verses if I hired all that out on my own. Also when there is a problem with a house and a tenant puts in a work service order I get notified by email and can approve or reject the order. 

I've had to sign that letter with every closing I've done. I've never had a problem but I was always using reputable closing companies. I think you can choose to get the closing protection letter for an additional fee if you wanted. 

@Brady Halse From what I know of KC I wouldn't touch that property especially being an out of town investor. I would get out of that contract and run. Have seen too many people take huge financial bloodbaths investing in these bad areas. @Chris Dawson had some great advice and also about the areas that are good to invest in KC.