Opinion from People Who Know Saint Louis (Kansas City, St. Louis: section 8, rental)

[SweetOzarksGirl]

There's this house at 5715 Theodosia Avenue 63112 in Wells-Goodfellow and I love the exterior of it. It's an inexpensive HomePath property.

I've read on other threads to stay away from north of Delmar and it is north of Delmar.

Can I get some opinions on this area?

When I pull up Google Satellite, I can see lots of empty lots and the vibe I pick up from the picture of the property is that it's like an area of Kansas City, which I am familiar with, that is to the east of downtown and just a bit south that is full of lots, but there's these houses that folks have purchased and turned into rehabbed beauties. I'm wondering if Theodosia is anything like that.

Thanks. I appreciate your insight.

If you want to see a photo of the house, visit here: 5715 Theodosia Ave, Saint Louis, MO 63112 MLS# 11032596 - Zillow

[BoomBoxing]

I love the house too. But let's be frank about this part of town - it's not good. That's putting it mildly. Wells-Goodfellow is a high crime area with regular violent crime and there is no way to sugarcoat it or advise on safety measures to live there. I just would not recommend it at all. Not now and not for the foreseeable future. But I do not think that north of Delmar is all bad. Old North St. Louis is an up and coming neighborhood just north of downtown and hope to world famous Crown Candy Kitchen. I'm sure there's plenty of good rehab opportunities there.

I also think the Academy, North Pointe, and Riverview are decent north city neighborhoods. If you really wanted to move to St. Louis and rehab an old beauty, you will find many great opportunities. The south city neighborhoods of Shaw, Tower Grove East, Fox Park, Benton Park, Mckinley Heights, and Benton Park West are really turning around quite fast, so I would focus on those areas as they are more stable and have less violent crime than areas on the north side.

[SweetOzarksGirl]

BoomBoxing, I really appreciate your opinion. It means a lot to me and I learned quite a bit. Thank you so much.

[aragx6]

I have to agree with Boom on this one. There are some of those little shotgun houses and other small homes elsewhere in the city in need of rehab that I believe could have better all-around investment potential.

A couple suggestions: Forest Park Southeast. Definitely still in transition, particularly south of Manchester where the least expensive properties will be. But the Manchester Strip has really grown up in the last few years, and there is definitely some rehabbing taking place in the area. Like this place: 4336 Vista Ave, Saint Louis, MO 63110 MLS# 90059333 - Zillow}

This is a little house in Bevo, and I think that area would certainly be worth a look: 4153 Eichelberger St, Saint Louis, MO 63116 MLS# 11029217 - Zillow} This one is a bit more expensive, but in really pretty livable condition at a good price: 4153 Eichelberger St, Saint Louis, MO 63116 MLS# 11029217 - Zillow}

Maybe something in Tower Grove East? 2707 Michigan Ave, Saint Louis, MO 63118 MLS# 10064683 - Zillow} Definitely still somewhat sketchy, but the area to its west, Tower Grove, has greatly improved.

Or even Benton Park West, which still has quite a ways to go, but is seeing a gentrification push from the east (Benton Park) and an increased hispanic population which appears to be doing good for the neighborhood: 3245 California Ave, Saint Louis, MO 63118 MLS# 11036918 - Zillow}

[SweetOzarksGirl]

aragx6, Thanks for the links. I'd give you more rep, but I'm tapped out for 24 hours, so I'll have to get you later.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by aragx6

Maybe something in Tower Grove East? 2707 Michigan Ave, Saint Louis, MO 63118 MLS# 10064683 - Zillow} Definitely still somewhat sketchy, but the area to its west, Tower Grove, has greatly improved.

No way! That is a ROUGH area and has been for years. I owned a home a block away on Magnolia.

Michigan Ave, is a bad idea for these reasons:

2-3 board-ups in the block.
Several crack houses have called THAT BLOCK home.
At least three houses on that street have major foundation issues due to settling.

There are a lot of houses in that general area that have some architectural quality and some really good living space. These houses on Michigan are among the worst in the area and generally, have not been kept up.

I do not know what the OP's intent (home or investment property) for the property is, but it would be a challenge to rent a property on Michigan Ave, between Magnolia and Sydney.

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by jlawrence01

No way! That is a ROUGH area and has been for years. I owned a home a block away on Magnolia.

Michigan Ave, is a bad idea for these reasons:

2-3 board-ups in the block.
Several crack houses have called THAT BLOCK home.
At least three houses on that street have major foundation issues due to settling.

There are a lot of houses in that general area that have some architectural quality and some really good living space. These houses on Michigan are among the worst in the area and generally, have not been kept up.

I do not know what the OP's intent (home or investment property) for the property is, but it would be a challenge to rent a property on Michigan Ave, between Magnolia and Sydney.

All of the properties I mentioned are in sketchy to very sketchy areas, but the OP indicated he was looking for cheap properties in areas with at least a modicum of investment potential. All of the properties I listed would be areas I consider to have that investment potential. All of those neighborhoods have seen improvement and have at least one adjacent neighborhood that I would consider gentrified.

[mike0421]

This is an incredibly powerful and useful tool, if you know how to use it:
http://dynamic.stlouis-mo.gov/cityda...sign/index.cfm

Essentially gives you a myraid of information about individual homes, assessment, status of land (i.e. vacant or abandoned) and if you can perform SQL queries, you can essentially drill down and unveil which homes fit these statuses, rendering maps as a result.

[Snake Plissken]

Avoid north of Delmar.

[flynavyj]

Depends on the area. If your West of Skinker, i think North of Delmar is ok...long as you're South of Olive...Eh...On the Eastern edge of that it's probably not so great either...I guess i'd bracket it West of Kingsland, in U-City.

The area the asked about in the initial post is a dump! High Crime, Drugs, Section 8, and Poor people who couldn't afford to move out, or didn't when they should have. The house sounds like a steal at 5k, but i doubt it's really even worth that...especially considering the photos look like it'll need tens of thousands to be inhabitable, and after that you won't see a return on your investment for ages...if then.

The architecture isn't bad...but honestly, that style of home is not rare in St. Louis City...infact, it's so common that it almost doesn't impress me as having a lot of character. There are TONS of homes similar in South St. Louis, where your investment potential may be realized significantly quicker than at that location, and that's where i'd focus my search.

If you've got some more $$, i've seen numerous 2 and 4 family units in South St. Louis going under 100k, some were in the 40-60k. The area was better than this location, and while they too would require some work, having 4 rental units would easily pay the mortgage, plus leave a hefty wad in the owners pocket.

If using the home as your residence is your plan. I had a coworker buy a 2 bd rm off Chippewa for 30k. Pretty good price if you ask me, so maybe instead of looking for 1990 Honda Civic priced homes, you'll need to look for 2006 BMW 3 series, priced homes . Good luck.