Buying an Investment property
Want to buy an investment property but not sure where to start? I grew up as the daughter of a real estate investor. Many of my childhood memories involve cleaning our rental houses before new tenants moved in, planting trees, going with my dad to fix things, and going to look at houses, too. The home I grew up in was purchased by my dad on the courthouse steps during foreclosure proceedings. It was snowing, and he was the only bidder. I remember going to see the house for the first time and wondering what my dad could have been thinking, but he could see that it had good bones, and he and my mom breathed life back into the home.
I actually started my real estate career as a buyer’s agent on a team that specialized in REOs, foreclosures, and short sales. In 2014, there were a lot more foreclosures than there are now. In fact, Kansas City is one of the few metropolitan areas reporting a decline in completed foreclosures from the previous year in 2025, meaning fewer properties were actually being reposessed by banks than the year prior. (Source: Housingwire)1 I know that HGTV makes it look like the only way to make money is by buying a foreclosed property, but I can tell you with absolute certainty that you do not need to gut a house to make a profit. In fact, some of the easiest and fastest turnarounds can come from savvy negotiating and a few smart, targeted searches.
There are a lot of different types of investment properties: multifamily rentals, vacation properties, short- and mid-term rentals (such as AirBnB and VRBO), BRRR properties, flips, buy-and-hold, house-hacking, and so many more. If you are interested in any of these options, I would love to sit down with you to go over your goals and how we can achieve them.
Many people don’t realize that they can buy investment properties using grant programs, or with less than 20% down, or with renters in place. I have helped people buy investment properties in all of these ways, and then some. I have guided investors through the purchase of foreclosed homes, short sales, auction properties, tax sales, off-market properties, and HUD homes. I have helped people forge partnerships that would let them realize their vision, and I know what to look for on the front end to help my clients achieve their goals, whether that is maximizing ROI on a saleable property or calculating cashflow and operating expenses of a rental property. I also have the ability to help my clients screen prospective rental tenants.
Kelli Sells KC.com 