BBQ Capital | Kansas City Real Estate Investing | Real estate investing and property management in Kansas City.

April 26, 2007 · 7:11 am

Kansas City Wizards Soccer: Build A Stadium

Sorry. This isn’t going to be a real estate post. It could be an investing post. Since OnGoal LLC purchased the Wizards last fall there have been some player and coaching changes. OnGoal LLC is hoping to do what the previous ownership (Lamar Hunt) wasn’t able to do. Get a soccer specific stadium built in Kansas City to help the Wizards succeed here.

Last night the Wizards came into their home opener 1-1. They won the game 3-0 by waxing a pretty poor Toronto FC. Announced attendance: 7,438.

Even by MLS standards, this is pretty darn low. Now, if you live in Kansas City you know we had one monster rain storm last evening. Precisely why the attendance wasn’t at lest 7,441. No way I was taking my boys out to sit in that kind of rain. (For all you that think soccer is boring, at least they still play in the rain….I’m just not going to sit in it!)

Everywhere soccer specific stadia have been built in the USA attendance has jumped. KC can get 16,000-19,000 out at Arrowhead. Do you know what that looks like in Arrowhead? But build a soccer specific 22,000 seat stadium and you’ll create an atmosphere. A demand for tickets. A good time. Look at Columbus, LA, Dallas, etc. You might say that DC United thrives in RFK. And you would be right. I used to love going to games there. But DC has 3 times the population of KC, at least 2 times the money and 2 times the immigrants.

Congratulations on the win last night, Coach Onalfo. Let’s hope the city can get behind you and the boys and go to Arrowhead and build a new stadium. I fully understand that the funds should mostly be private as there is no way any jurisdiction is going to build a stadium for soccer when they would just barely approve improvements for the Chiefs and Royals.

Even though the Wizards are Kansas City’s last National Champions in 2000. Think about that.

2 Comments

Filed under Kansas City Sports

April 23, 2007 · 5:52 pm

Earth Day and Your Home: Energy Saving Ideas

Another Earth Day has come and gone. I didn’t really do anything special to mark the occasion. Nothing out of the ordinary, at any rate. My family and I spent about 4 hours out at Shawnee Mission Park where there was an Earth Day celebration. We didn’t go to the celebration. But we did enjoy what nature had to offer.

We bar-b-q’d. We hiked. We flew kites. We put our feet in one of the lakes. We enjoyed a very small piece of the Earth that God gave us.

I laugh when I hear Democrats and Republicans discuss the ecology and environment in political terms. Is it really a partisan issue? I was really pleased today to hear John McCain give a speech promising to lower carbon emissions for both United State security issues and for the good of the human race in relation to the world in which we live.

Listen. I’m not an eco-radical. Humans need to cut down trees to build housing. But we have a duty to plant more. We need oil to fuel our current state of affairs. But we need to immediately begin finding alternatives. And that is going to cost businesses and the private sector money. Big money. But again, what is the alternative?

I’m not going to rant too long on this issue. I’ve written before about smart growth both for aesthetic and practical reasons. I just want to offer 5 things that any home owner can do to help do his/her part. And if you have investment properties, you can make a bigger impact!

Change out as many light bulbs as is practical. Use the newer fluorescent bulbs. What a difference they can make!

Turn off the water while brushing your teeth. How much water would that save in a year?

Use your ceiling fans more and your air conditioner less. I live in Kansas where it can get to 97 degrees with 87% humidity. I’m not talking about those days.

Service your furnace/ac at least once a year to keep it in top operating condition.

Turn off all the lights, televisions, computers and radios that are not in use.

These are not hard and in fact can help to save you some money. The Earth and the Earth’s population need YOUR help. Won’t you give it a try.

I would love to hear additional ideas.

1 Comment

Filed under Social Issues

April 23, 2007 · 1:35 pm

Property Management Done Properly

Property management is hard work. It takes discipline to do the due diligence. It takes a “hard heart” to not believe everything you hear. And it takes fortitude to make tough decisions.

The single best thing you can do when renting your investment property is proper tenant screening. Interview them. Let them interview you. Ask questions. Lots of questions. And do background checks.

Here you will find a link to a blogger I found very recently. This short blog says a lot. Take the time and make the jump. It’s short. Succinct. To the point.

Real Estate Investing Tool: 1031 Exchange

A 1031 tax deferred exchange is an excellent tool for the real estate investor. And there are plenty of good sources to find out more about that tool without me rehashing the whole process in great detail.

Follow these two links to get more details and benefits of the 1031 exchange:

Jeff Brown’s Bawld Guy Talking
Starker Services, Inc.

This post, however, is here to talk about what the real estate investor can do to minimize his/her feelings of overwhelming pressure when they are in the middle of a 1031 exchange. And how a real estate agent working with investment properties can help to walk that exchanger through.

Click here to read the rest of this post…

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Filed under 1031 Exchange, Real Estate Investing

April 21, 2007 · 5:38 pm

Real Estate Investing in Kansas City: On Your Mark, Get Set, Get Set, Get Set…Oh, Go Already!

About two weeks back I was interviewing a potential Buyer client. He had found me through one of my blogs and said that he had liked what he had seen about my real estate investing philosophies here in the Kansas City area. I was flattered. But I was also growing leery of his motivation.

His motivation to actually buy a property, that is. It seemed that he had read the books I recommend along with half a dozen others. He had been to workshops and seminars that I’ve never even heard of. He was member of both investment clubs here in Kansas City. Had an LLC. Had an accountant. A lawyer was all lined up. So to was a property manager. Mortgage guys had been interviewed. There was even someone he was considering hiring as a mentor.

And all this had only taken him three years.

Now, I am big on setting goals before you get started. Knowing your criteria for a good income property is a must before I’ll go out and show you any homes. Pre-qualification/pre-approval a necessity. But come on. Do you really need the whole “team” together before you get started on your first property?

I am not pooh-poohing preparedness. Far from it. But this is a classic case of paralysis by analysis. Always preparing and never acting. Sooner or later don’t you have to buy a property to be a real estate investor here in Kansas City…or anywhere for that matter?

It was my advice to this would be real estate tycoon that he really focus on purchasing his first income property in the next few weeks or months if he wanted to get his business off the ground. I would help him to evaluate neighborhoods, properties and incomes. But he needed to actually commit to that before I would go to a great deal of trouble. After all, when you hire me to be your Buyer’s Agent, you are hiring a professional real estate agent who can navigate you through the benefits and mis-steps of owning rental properties. This is what I do. Here are references you are welcome to check.

We had a great conversation. It lasted about 45 minutes. He left very enthused and looking forward to emailing me his criteria and pre-qualification letter. He was really ready, this time, to buy an investment property.

I’m still waiting for the email.

If you are the customer of which I’m speaking and you read this and you think I’m speaking of you, you may be right. Don’t think for a moment I am minimizing your efforts or your dreams. On the contrary I want you to act on them. I hope to hear from you, or from anyone else reading this blog who fits that mold, very soon.

One last comment on this topic. Johnson County has appreciated about 3.85% (average) over the last three years. That $200,000 duplex he could have bought in 2004 would now be worth $224,000. Is this a good decision?

4 Comments

Filed under Kansas City Real Estate, Real Estate Investing

April 19, 2007 · 9:14 pm

Market Cycles, Vacancy Rates & Your Income Properties

I’m not very good at fortune telling. I tell everyone my crystal ball is cracked. Want proof?

I bought a house in Suburban Maryland when the market was down. I purchased it for $8,000 lower than the previous buyer had paid for it. 5 years later I sold it for a handsome $44,000 appreciation. It sold for $142,000. The highest price ever for a townhouse in that community. Boy! I really knew what I was doing.

Er, no I didn’t. 4 years later that neighborhood was selling in the $390’s. Now, with the real estate slip on out there you could probably pick it up in the $330,000-$340,000 range. (But the lady that bought my house has “lost” $60,000 in equity over the last 10 months. Never mind that she has really “gained” $200,000 in 5 years. A little better than my $44,000.)

I don’t tell you that story to discredit myself. Only to say that when you are working with real estate anything can happen. When you are purchasing income property you need to base your numbers on today. Does the property hold it’s own today? Don’t bank on future growth to cover your negative spread. Use the future equity growth to create your wealth.

Use today’s cash flow, principal reduction and depreciation to pay for the property and to begin building that nest egg. Count on those three and you can’t go wrong.

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The Value Of A Good Home Inspector

This is a special thank you to a home inspection service here in the Kansas City area that I use and recommend regularly. In fact, he sometimes contributes articles here on BBQ Capital.

I have a current client that has some 1031 exchange money that needs to be “identified” by no later than Friday. Because of this we are looking at which property is more profitable that the other, which is in better shape, which has fewer oncoming headaches, etc.

Anyway, while we were deciding on which houses to make final bids on he was kind enough to come out and just look at a few issues we had without yet doing the full inspection. Obviously, we paid him for his time and travel. But getting him to come out and look at a few concerns helped us to get a better idea as to which properties to pursue.

2 Comments

Filed under Kansas City Real Estate, Preferred Vendors