Insights
How a disciplined wholesale operator reads Midwest river-town markets — the market case in one silo, the deal mechanics in the other, and the numbers published in both.
Iowa river towns produce 12–15% gross yields while coastal markets pay 5–7%. The math, the reasons, and what the skeptics get right and wrong.
Pando Midwest Investments · June 11, 2026 · 7 min
Read
The deal isn't done at the closing table. Tenant placement, management handoff, utilities, insurance, and the month-one checklist that protects the math.
June 11, 20266 min
Two ways a wholesale deal reaches the end buyer: contract assignment or double close. What each means for you, what it costs, and what to verify.
June 11, 20266 min
Most Midwest rental stock predates 1950. What an honest inspection catches in century-old houses — wiring, laterals, foundations — and what it costs.
June 11, 20267 min
Wholesalers have a trust problem — some of it earned. The six things to verify before buying from one, and what a legitimate operation looks like.
June 11, 20267 min
Iowa closings are among the cheapest in the country. The line items on an investment purchase, who customarily pays each, and where wholesale differs.
June 11, 20265 min
ARV is only as honest as its comps. A working method for auditing after-repair value on any deal — what to pull, what to reject, where claims break.
June 11, 20267 min
Instant equity is the gap between what you pay and what the property appraises for on day one. Here's the math, the catch to check for, and how to verify it.
June 11, 20266 min
Insuring a 1920s rental isn't like insuring your house. ACV vs RCV, vacancy clauses, knob-and-tube exclusions — what to buy and what to watch.
June 11, 20266 min
Iowa's HF 2374 made wholesale real estate a disclosed, regulated practice. What the law requires, why it protects buyers, and what to ask any operator.
June 11, 20265 min
Personal name, home-state LLC, or property-state LLC? The actual trade-offs — liability, financing, foreign registration — without the guru fog.
June 11, 20266 min
You can verify almost everything about a small-town rental from 1,000 miles away — if you know which records to pull and which locals to hire.
June 11, 20267 min
A buy box is a written set of pass/fail criteria a property must clear before money moves. Here's how a disciplined 11-criteria version works in practice.
June 11, 20266 min
Why rehab budgets blow up, how disciplined scopes get priced line by line, and what to demand before trusting anyone's renovation number.
June 11, 20266 min
Liens, gaps, heirs, judgments — what a title search catches on a wholesale property, why Iowa's abstract system helps, and what to require before closing.
June 11, 20266 min
The three main ways to buy real estate at a distance — wholesale transfer, turnkey, and syndication — compared on control, fees, equity, and who each fits.
June 11, 20269 min
Letter grades hide more than they reveal. How to actually read a working-class block — the owner signals, the decay signals, and the street-level method.
June 11, 20266 min
Cap rate measures the property; cash-on-cash measures your money. What each number can and can't tell you, and how sellers use the confusion.
June 11, 20266 min
Two rents on one roof at a small-town price. Why river-town duplexes screen better than single-families — and the three ways they fool buyers.
June 11, 20266 min
Iowa's landlord-tenant framework is landlord-workable and tenant-fair. Deposits, notices, entry, eviction timelines — the rules an owner actually uses.
June 11, 20267 min
How Iowa property tax actually works on a rental — assessment, rollback, levy — with the math on a representative river-town single-family.
June 11, 20266 min
Keokuk, Iowa for rental investors: price ranges, rent bands, housing stock, employment anchors, and what to check before buying in Lee County.
June 11, 20267 min
The Sunbelt got the headlines and the price run-up. The Midwest kept the yield. An honest comparison of the two theses, line by line.
June 11, 20267 min
The 1% rule is dead in most coastal metros and alive in Midwest river towns. Here's the math behind the screen, and where the ratio actually clears.
June 11, 20266 min
The ten mistakes that separate out-of-state investors who build portfolios from the ones who quit after one property — and the fix for each.
June 11, 20269 min
Real 2026 numbers for Iowa rental property: purchase ranges by market tier, closing costs, taxes, insurance, and the all-in cost to your first rent check.
June 11, 20268 min
Sub-$100K rentals are either the best math in real estate or a money pit with a low sticker. The five tests that separate them, from an Iowa operator.
June 11, 20267 min
Section 8 in small Midwest markets means federally backed rent on modest housing stock. The real pros, the real frictions, and the math that decides.
June 11, 20267 min
Population decline is the standard objection to small-town rentals — and it's the wrong metric. The four numbers that actually predict rental performance.
June 11, 20266 min
Hospital staff, river industry, teachers, retirees. The tenant base in small Midwest towns is real, stable, and invisible to national models.
June 11, 20266 min
Vetted-investor access takes about a week from form to first deal announcement. Book a Discovery Call if you'd rather start with a conversation.
Or talk to Marc directly — marc@ownpando.com
