Investing in Property in Milwaukee (Kenosha: low income, real estate, foreclosures)

[nishatchishti]

I am a retired person. Intending to invest about 30k in property in Milwaukee. I had been shown some single family homes in that range,in the North and South part of city.
I have never lived in Milwaukee. Would like to find out of the areas where it would be relatively easier to find potential tenants without long awaiting.
Will appreciate some feed back.

Nishat

[brrabbit]

Doable. But not without inherent risks. And if you don't intend to live in the area - even more riskier (financially speaking). The areas where you can buy a property for under 30K are probably very low end areas, the properties costing that little are probably foreclosures.


So, chances are you'd invest your 30K, then you would have to put another 20K to rebuild the building back to livable conditions, then you rent it out to someone and may or may be able to collect rent, get property damage and eviction might be not that easy either...

[adr3naline]

Are you familiar with those neighborhoods? A realtor will not give you an objective assessment. A $30k home on the North Side is $30k for a reason...the people who want to live there are low income, and given the exceedingly high crime rate, often low-class individuals that tend not to be good tenants.

[Ragnar]

OP, is the $30k a downpayment or a full purchase? If a full purchase, it's likely a class D property and your tenant pool will carry additional inherent risks that will need to be managed. Do you have prior experience managing rental properties, especially class D properties? Do you plan to do the maintenance and management yourself, or hire a things out? Also where do you live? Investing in MKE while living in Kenosha may be logistically much easier than while living, say, in Boston.

Regardless of your level of real estate investing experience I recommend a couple of things:

1. Check out the BiggerPockets website. There is at least one investor from the MKE area who is active on their forums, and she's very knowledgeable.

2. Attend some meetings with the real estate investing association(s) (REIA) in the MKE area. Networking with investors who are familiar with MKE and its neighborhoods, as well as good contractors and local area laws, would be a great help for you.