I started this Kansas City real estate investing blog back in January of 2006. That’s a long time ago. And this has been a fun project, no doubt about it. But time marches forward and times change. From this point forward most of my business writing will be over at RetirementWorthHaving.com. RTW launches this Wednesday, October 20, 2021 with its inaugural newsletter. The newsletter will revolve not only about how real estate investing fits into your retirement planning but will also include the all important subjects of how is it that we think about retirement. Who will we be? What debts, if a ..read more

What are your real estate investing goals? It’s one of the first questions I ask would-be or experienced real estate investors. Some of what I hear is; Flip a house to create cash Create monthly cash flow Replace my income Secure my retirement To be sure, there are other goals out there, but for income property owners, these are the four I hear most commonly. The best way to determine which of these is best for you is to sit down with someone to talk over what you are looking to accomplish in the end. Are you looking for a certain amount of built up cash? Or equity? Are you looking for month ..read more

From Keller Williams’ Mega Camp Gary Keller discussed this slide. I, too, have many thoughts around this. Knowing the market is power. If you are a current or future real estate investor looking at Kansas City, please reach out. We are here to help. Chris Lengquist Ad Astra Realty, Inc. 1127 W Dennis Ave Olathe, KS 66061 913-839-2953 o 913-568-1579 m ..read more

The Kansas City housing market, especially where it pertains to Kansas City real estate investing, continues to run hot. And frankly, I don’t see it changing anytime soon. Below are some random, bullet-point thoughts. There is a shortage of “affordable housing” for both rent and sale. In Olathe, Kansas, (in the 66062 zip code) good luck finding a turn-key home with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths for less than $250,000. At the time of writing this there were only seven 3/2 homes and only one of those was priced below $260,000. Corresponding rents in this area START at $1,695/mo. With interest rates hover ..read more

Are you thinking of buying Kansas City area real estate investment property? Are you wondering; How do I keep from paying too much? What part of town should I buy in? How do I go about managing the property, setting the rent, screening the tenants? These are some of the questions, and more, that you are asking yourself right now. Paying Too Much Look, let me make this simple. If you are a first time reader here it may take you a while to understand that I don’t mince words nor do I speak in absolutes. Here it is; It is really, really, really, really difficult to get the “bargains” all the bo ..read more

This is an open letter from Ad Astra Realty, Inc to our employees, contractors, owners, tenants and applicants. These are interesting times. Not in my lifetime have we had a health crisis such as the one we now face. Before us is a novel coranavirus named COVID-19 and the information and misinformation surrounding top topic can become overwhelming. I will do my best to parse the information and, therefore, our response as best possible to each of you. EMPLOYEES Effective immediately I have asked our employees to work from home by telephone, computer and video conferencing as much ..read more

With the Coronoavirus (Covid-19) garnering headlines in regards to the financial markets all across the world, I thought now may be a good time to for a reminder about the relative security of real estate investing as part of your investment portfolio. While all around you there is panic, feel free to rest peacefully. Look, there are no certainties in any kind of investments. Like most of the readers here, I too own rental property. I too invest in stocks, bonds and mutual funds. And, I too have watched approximately 11% of my investments in said stocks, bonds and mutual funds simply ev ..read more

In September of 2017 I bought a cabin at Lake Kahola which is about a 22 mile bike ride away from Emporia, Kansas.  And since I usually drive through Emporia, KS on my way to and from Lake Kahola I’ve come to know the town pretty darned well.  I ride my bike there.  We buy groceries and house supplies and what-nots in Emporia.  And we eat there as there are some great little dives there. I say all that to say I’ve really been studying this small Kansas city.  They lay claim to having the first Veteran’s Day, they are home to the Dirty Kanza some say they invented Disc Golf there, too.  You can ..read more

While I’m in the process of purchasing a home for my son and his family to live in for an equity sharing agreement we’ve come up with I thought I would share the numbers with you so that you can have good awareness of what a quality Kansas rental houses looks like from a real estate investor’s perspective. So here we go.. The home is located in Olathe, Kansas in a decidedly non-rental neighborhood.  It’s your standard split entry, raised ranch sort of house with 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths and in very nice condition.  Good school districts.  Furnace and water heater updated within the last seven yea ..read more

Dear Tenants, I would love to discuss a couple of items before you rent from us at Ad Astra Realty, Inc here in the Kansas City area…and beyond. We really do not want to keep your deposit. We are not perfect but we are human beings. Do not file an application, pay the fee and ask for your money back when you don’t rent with us. THE DEPOSIT We seem to have three kinds of tenants… and heck, I fell under one of these when I was a tenant many years ago.  In fact, I remember once that the landlord called and said they’d be keeping all of our deposit for damages.  And you know what, he was right ..read more