All Forum Posts by: Drew Kimminau

Hi Everyone,

I recently moved to the KC area and I am looking to start investing in the area. This is a pretty general questions and any answers will be beneficial. I have been looking into Johnson county which is pretty expensive compared to the rents you get, but I am assuming it's not too risky because of the higher quality of tenant. I have also been looking into Independence and Raytown. Both a little cheaper and a better rent to price ratio, however I mainly want to know about the tenant base there. If anyone owns property there, how long does it generally take to get a quality tenant in place? Final area is anything north of the river maybe liberty area? Any comments about that area? Again thank you for any words of wisdom.

So today is 10/18/2017, and I STILL HAVE NOT BEEN PAID!!! The rent is now over 2 weeks over due and I am being way to lenient. To preface this story/experience we are typically paid within the first 5 days of the month with a money order in the mail from this tenant. When 10/6 hits I text him and say " I didn't receive the money order today". He says he was out of town for work and mailed it that day. I accept his excuse (First Mistake). 10/12 still no check and I tell the tenant I will be coming by to pick up the money. He tells me because he paid cash for the money order, he does not have any money left to pay me. He states I will just have to wait for the money order, I do (Second Mistake). 10/13 I tell him to reissue the money order and cancel the original. He gets mad and says not to tell him what to do, "you will get your money when it gets to you". Again I give him the benefit of the doubt, and I sit patiently for my money (Third Mistake).  It is now 10/18, I have texted, called, and even went to see him a few times. I made many mistakes when I went to see him. One big mistake I made was not taking a picture of the money order receipt he showed me (I am pretty sure it was from a previous month but at the time I only did a quick look at the receipt. Should have looked at it more detailed and looked for a date). Moral of the story, I am going by the unit Friday to get my money. This time however if I do not receive my money I will be giving him a notice of eviction. WISH ME LUCK!!!  

Only question I know about would be the first. I believe the only annual exclusion for a gift is $14,000. And if your married you can give $28,000. After that I believe the donor or donee must pay the tax. Maybe you can structure the deal by setting up an LLC and you contribute the $100,000 to the partnership. The partnership will be owned by both you and your friend 50-50 then the property will be in LLC's name which at the end of the year the income will be distributed on your individual K-1s 50-50. The bank will give the mortgage to the LLC but will most likely still need your friend to be the guarantor. Maybe something to ask your tax consultant...Let me know what you end up doing, love learning about this stuff

Something you could do is just set up a time to do a walk through of the property. Your the owner so just make something up. Some excuses could be that you need to check the filters or the vents in the unit. The tenant doesn't have to be there when you do this walk through either. In most leases you have to give your tenant some notice, so if they are smart and take the dogs somewhere else while you are checking the property just look for signs of dogs. Like dog hair or scratches on the flooring.  

Good stuff last night! Glad we did that. I expect everyone to have at least 2 more properties by time we meet up again. Great meeting everyone!

Hi @Ray C. some of us new to investing in St. Louis area are meeting up tomorrow. Feel free to join. Here is the event URL

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521/topics/489574-st-louis-city-meetup-come-to-meet-other-stl-investors-from-bp?page=1#p3026340

Looking forward to meeting everyone tomorrow!!!

@Michael Catausan

I have not done any renovation projects. Both of my properties were ready to go when I got them, so I cant talk too much about ARV numbers or repair costs. I can say that I typically shoot for at least 15% CoC with property manager in place or 20-25%CoC with no property manager in place. These properties are in St. Louis though which is a different market than KC. I am not in high turn over areas but I still use 95% occupation rate just to be safe. I own a duplex and a single family home, both of which the tenants take care of all utilities and the yard. These small monthly expenses add up a ton, so the more you can put on the tenants the better. Also don't be afraid to throw low offers out, the worst they can say is No. One time on Craiglist I offered a for sale by owner about 50% less than what he listed it for. Quote: "Are you are Crack?" is the response I got. Just keep offering and push through. Maybe don't be as extreme as me but still make sure you offer what makes sense to you. If they won't come down, don't force the deal. Just walk away.

@Craig Harrah

I love that you are all about getting the process/system in place. I am working on that right now, and really hope it makes everything run more smoothly. GOOD STUFF!!

First off, Welcome Michael :)

I don't have any properties in Kansas city but I am currently looking. I think for Raytown standards you might want a little high rent to price ratio. Another C class neighborhood you might want to look is independence. Based on your numbers I think you would want to get this property for less than 200,000. With CoC under 8%, I think it would be better off just throwing your money in an S&P index fund (Historically around 8%). Less headache too. Much of Kansas City is expanding South (Overland Park area) and even some north in Liberty area, but Raytown might be getting left behind so I like that your not banking on appreciation. Some things to keep in mind too is if you can lower expenses somehow that would make your numbers better. Snow/lawn of around $150 a month, maybe a tenant could be responsible for that, and give them a $50-$100 credit. Could save some money! Also PM, something to look out for is many management companies have a typical 8%-12% monthly fee which your accounting for but they also have a fee for leasing. This fee for leasing can be up to one full months rent. If this property is in a C class area, the turn over could be high which means you could pay up to another $2375 a year in just leasing fees if every unit needs leasing once a year ($197 a month). Just my thoughts!!!

Best of luck :)

I have wanted a 4 family for awhile too, there are quite a few for sale down in South City near tower grove park. They have pretty good cash flow, just need to watch out because many of those properties are pretty old. Just make sure they aren't going to cost a ton to fix up down the road.