Monthly Archives: February 2011

February 17, 2011 · 6:49 pm

High Maintenance or Low? Decide Carefully

I went out with some experienced Kansas City real estate investors today.  And it’s always an eye-opening experience when I do.  First, I learn from my clients as much as they learn from me.  Second, sometimes I’m shocked at what people are thinking.

For instance, we saw 5 houses today.  Four of the houses for sale were all pretty similar and would make great rental property.  They were all ranches (three had basements) and were all fairly simple to maintain.  The 5th house was by far the cutest.  It had that Grandma’s house feel to it.  Easy resell, which is certainly worth quite a bit.

But the roof had at least 3 layers.   The outside was stucco.  And the walls were plaster.  And the basement was rock.

No biggie.  There are lots of houses like that in the Kansas City area, and probably your area, too.  But the plaster walls and rock basement and many layers of roof mean a lot of maintenance issues as the years will roll by.

When you are looking at buying investment real estate do you keep maintenance in mind?

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Filed under Kansas City Real Estate, Real Estate Investing

February 13, 2011 · 7:07 pm

Multi-family Home Financing Change

As most readers know I’ve been lamenting the financing conditions for perfectly qualified real estate investors for quite some time.  Well, last week there was a significant change.  I have a client purchasing a Missouri fourplex.  During negotiations he was quoted a minimum 30% down payment.  But when it came time to lock in the rate after we arrived at suitable terms for all involved the 30% became only 25% required down payment.

Now, this sounds like a small movement.  But it’s actually very significant.  For instance, on this $260,000 property you are talking about being able to keep an additional $13,000 back for emergencies and/or future rental property acquisitions.

In this case, change is good.

4 Comments

Filed under Financing Options