All Forum Posts by: Luther Wilson III

Hey, @Charles B Allen, there are quite a few real estate investor meet ups here in town.  There are Facebook groups for most of them too.  You'll learn a ton just from being around some of the major players...  Let me know how we can assist you.  :)

Hey, @Bharat K., thanks for reaching out to the network here. I'd be happy to connect with you and perhaps assist you in finding what you're seeking in KC. Right now I'm working with a buyer and were were able to get 62 units under contract for $2.7 Mill and we're set to close before the month is up. These I would consider C/D class units and the buyer is cool with a 7% CAP rate... Not sure what you're seeking as far as cap rate and property type but if you're aggressive enough and realistic enough then you'll find some unique opportunities. It's taken us about 5 months to get to this point but I believe there are still deals here and if you look enough you can find them. We have a group here that has be deploying some stellar marketing to attract motivated sellers and we might just be able to couple you with some of the leads that we're finding. Send me a PM or email and let me know if you want to discuss this further on a phone call or such.

- Luther

[email protected]

913.475.5755 

Hey, @Rick Novotny, we're here on the ground in and around the KC area doing all kinds of fun real estate activities.  I'd be happy to talk shop with you and give you some pointers about what to do here.  I'll tell you like all the investor-buyers who I talk to about finding deals here:  If you want to TRULY find the best deals that you can, then you'll need to FIND A WAY to get into DIRECT CONTACT with the OWNERS of theses properties.  This may sound a bit strange because I am a real estate broker as well, and I do enjoy getting paid my commissions, but your best bet is to deploy some type of marketing to attract the motivated sellers for the types of properties you'd like to purchase.   :) This way when you find a deal that's worthwhile you won't necessarily have pay a realtor commission on top of a wholesale fee or the like.

There are resources out there (websites & data companies, squeeze pages, facebook & instagram marketing, radio & tv ads, direct mail postcards & yellow letters,  and on and on and on) that'll help you find & attract these motivated sellers.  If you choose not to utilize them that's your choice...  You can continue to work with wholesalers and realtors that care MOSTLY about their commissions or fees and not so much about the success of their clients.

The market has shifted here and there are TONS of buyers waiting on the sidelines and contacting agents & wholesalers on the regular to do the "dirty work", so to speak.  Just know that you can surely find good deals with realtors or wholesalers but know that they'll be less willing to bargain with you because they know if it's truly a great deal they'll find a way to do it themselves or they'll tee it up to the highest bidder.  :)

-Luther

Hey, @Victor Liang, I'm here in KC and can make some recommendations to you as well.

Well, I've spent most of my life in & around KC and I grew up in the industry so real estate activities & discussion was basically a daily thing for my family and I.   :)

I am still the managing broker for a local PM company and I work closely with contractors & vendors here.  I'd be happy to talk shop with you sometime.  The best way to reach me is by text message or email.

What's good, @John Webber!?  Welcome aboard.  Let me know if I can assist you in any way on your investing journey.  :)

Hey, @Xavier Williams, the fact that you're looking to invest in your own backyard already gives you a leg up compared to the out of state investors.  There are many ways to get involved in real estate investing here.  It depends on your goals, your risk tolerance, what arena you want to play in, and how much or how little capital you want to invest, among many other things.  I call BS on anyone that states you have to have money to get started.  Understand me correctly here, it certainly can help if you do but it's not necessary to get started.  At some point you WILL need to connect or work with people who do have the money in order to really grow & scale things up but as you're getting rolling you won't necessarily need the money quite yet.  What you REALLY need is the willingness to learn and the desire to grow.  You can get involved in numerous ways to help you learn the ropes.  One thing I'd recommend to ya is to get around the MAJOR PLAYERS.  Whoever you can find that is CURRENTLY doing what you'd like to do, go seek them out and offer to assist them somehow.  Get around the networking groups where they attend and keep asking around like you're doing.  Who's REALLY doing lots of the types of deals YOU'D like to do; in a legal, moral, and ethical way, and what can you learn from them?  You'll pick things up rather quick...  I'd be happy to tell you about some of the experiences I've had and the realities of investing here.  :)

Hey, @Matthew Dreiling, thanks for reaching out!  Congrats on recently getting your degree!  I'm here in the KC market as well; investing, brokering deals, lots of investor relations & such.  Let me know how I can help plug you into deals and services here!  :)

Hey, @Adam Sankowski, great question.  It might not ever grow old in KC...  Kansas City is very spotty and can be an absolute beast of an animal when you're dealing with PM's, contractors and investment properties.   I live, work, and play in KCMO and I've worked with a lot of different investors and sadly, I've seen and heard the same problems over and over again.  It's pretty much forced me to completely change my strategy for investing and working with other investors who own property here.  I've been the managing broker for a couple different property management companies here over the last 3 years and it's been quite a journey.  Most of our clients are out of state investors and the two biggest problems they face is dealing with property managers & contractors.  I thought I was pretty intelligent and figured starting a brokerage to really try and help investors get a better handle on those two issues in particular was a good idea.  Little did I know. LOL.  The first-hand experience has been absolutely incredible but I wouldn't wish it upon my worst enemy.  It has certainly helped me learn what NOT to do LOL.  I'd be happy to share some of the experiences here if anyone wants to PM or call me about it.  Nonetheless, no one can take away the knowledge, wisdom, & experience that has been gained.

All this being said, KC CAN be an amazingly good place to invest in real estate so long as you follow the #1 Rule:  LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION  :)  And beyond that, having a good overall STRATEGY for your marketing & investing that has MULTIPLE EXIT STRATEGIES for any particular deal.

The low income areas seem to get the most draw because people see the low costs and high potential returns.  All that becomes bunk if you don't know what you're doing, who you've hired, or even walked through the property you just bought.  Odds are you'll fail.  I've helped quite a few investors acquire, rehab and manage several properties in KC over the last 6 years and virtually all of them who did this with low-end, inner city properties have failed HORRIBLY.

I truly believe there is "sweet spot" for good buy & hold SFR deals in & around KC. If you stay in certain locations and get great deals in those areas then odds are you will win and actually be profitable. Despite whether it's a turnkey that's being served up on a silver platter for the investor or if they start from scratch with and REO and then go from there building their own team of sorts for the contracting & management then the odds of succeeding are much higher. I'd be happy to discuss with anyone here about that "sweet spot" here in Kansas City. :)

Hey, @Ryan Daigle, we evaluate deals on the regular and might be able to assist ya.  Shoot me a message with the info and what you're needing.