Kansas City BBQ – May Be the Best Part of Investing in Real Estate Here

Okay.  I love BBQ.  It’s one of the main reasons I ride my bike so much.  Well, BBQ and Mexican food.  Heck, Kansas City BBQ may be the best part of investing in real estate here.  Sure, the returns are great and our property management is awesome. And when you visit I’ll buy you a sandwich at a barbecue you’d like to try.

Smoke grilled pork ribs BBQ

Here are a few of my favorite haunts…

LC’s BBQ – Down in the close-in suburbs of the city, this place is my all time favorite.

Q39 – Kind of a modern, “yuppie” bbq with great recipes.

Kansas City Joe’s – World famous and quite fashionable. Great sausage.

Zarda’s BBQ – I grew up working here.  My favorite burnt ends, anywhere.

BB’s Lawnside BBQ – Good BBQ.  And, hands down, the best Saturday night.

Of course, I’ve left off quite a few that I like to visit.  Here in KC you can get in to a fist fight about the best BBQ.  The only thing we all agree on is it is definitely better than Memphis, Carolina and certainly Texas BBQ.  🙂

 

 

 

 

Shout Out to LC’s Bar-B-Q in Kansas City

This is the BBQCapital, right?  So I need to talk Bar-b-q every once in a while.  LC’s in KC is the best, Jerry, the best!  Check out their Yelp! page I linked to and you’ll see glowing reviews except for some woman who clearly needs to eat real BBQ more often.  Yes, it’s safe to park your  car there.  And YES! it’s delicious.  My out-of-town clients that I have taken there all thank me over and over and over again.

Looking for ambiance?  Go to Jack Stack in Johnson County.  Looking for the best BBQ in town that will clog your arteries, add an inch to your waste line and make you dream of hickory smoke?  LC’s.

Rabbit Trail From Real Estate: Kansas Basketball, BBQ, etc

I showed a couple properties this morning and have been looking through the Kansas City MLS for potentially good rental properties that can be had at a significant discount but this post will most assuredly be a rabbit trail running away from real estate.

Kansas Jayhawk Basketball
Last Friday evening I went to Late Night at the Phog.  That’s the annual first night of  college basketball practice for the Kansas Jayhawks, an early adopter of midnight basketball practices.    Despite all the financial turmoil and spoiled closings I always have that third Friday in October when basketball is reborn.    And with it, my soul.  At least through the first Monday in April the following spring.  I know not why I love college basketball so much.  I just do.

Think the recession is over?  (I know what the gov says.  But I say “hooey.”)  Check out this article stating that Allen Field House still has tickets available for the upcoming basketball season.  Can you believe it?  Rare.  People just don’t have the extra coin right now for the luxuries of life.  This is a Top 10-12 team coming in to the season.  I frankly cannot believe it.  But I also don’t have an extra $3,500 – $4,000 for season tickets, either.

BBQ in Kansas City
Ate at Oklahoma Joe’s BBQ the other day.  Man, their meats are smoked to perfection.  But those darn beans are still awful.  That alone keeps them out of my “favorites” list of Kansas City Bar-b-que’s.

I’m thinking of doing a photo-essay of bar-b-q joints in and around Kansas City.  Or getting more specific and just doing my home state of Kansas.  Seems like a great excuse to drive around the countryside and eat.  🙂

My Oldest
As a parent, I love all my kids.  But I want to take a moment and brag on my oldest.   Here he is sitting ranked as #17 in his high school class of almost 400 kids.  He’s never had anything less than a “A” and just finished his first quarter of college calculus with a 103.4 score.  He is busy filling out his college application to Princeton and the University of Kansas Honor’s Program.  Say’s he’ll be happy with either.  Drive’s me crazy he ignores letters from Cornell and Vanderbilt and the like.  But he’s focused on those two schools and I have no doubt he will be successful in life regardless of which program chooses him.

Disappointing BBQ

My wife and kids went to Marie’s family Family Reunion on Saturday while I worked through the day.  So I took my mom out shopping and to dinner on Saturday evening.  She wanted to eat at the Independence location of Smokehouse Barbeque.

For years I have maintained that Smokehouse Barbeque has some of the best beans in the world. Sadly, on Saturday evening, that wasn’t enough to make up for the horrible ribs we were served.  They were dry.  They were tough.  And they were chewy.

We ate our fries and beans and cole slaw.  And I ate some of the ribs.  But what I did was take the ribs home, wrapped them in foil and cooked them down on Monday afternoon while I was grilling brats.  After another 45 minutes on my grill they were juicy and tender.

Perhaps Smokehouse Barbeque could use one or more of the army of home cooks out there to show them how to cook ribs?  I’m being  a little sarcastic.   But the chain has four locations.  It will soon go back to one if they keep charging $40 for a meal that my mom wasn’t happy with and I had to finish cooking myself.

A Walk Through Kansas City’s BBQ Past…And More

Follow this link to a KC Star page with a photo feature of Kansas City’s BBQ Past.

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Sorry for the lack of posting this week.  Just trying to keep my head above water.  I have two closings this Friday/Saturday.  And in the last 7 days I’ve had four houses go under contract.  Writing an offer tonight.

Real estate is a funny business.  People will read the above paragraph and think about “all the money” I make.  Yet what they forget is I had zero closings in March and May.  So you can make money in real estate and you can make more than being a grocer.  But you must be a good money manager because this is the way it comes.  Good times come in streaks.  So do bad times.

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Here in KC we’ve gone from cool and cloudy to hot and steamy in about 6 seconds.  Amazing

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The current real estate market is an enigma here in Kansas City.  I can name neighborhoods that are red hot.  I can name neighborhoods that are ice cold.  Location.  Location.  Location.  Precisely why some neighborhoods appreciate at a greater rate than others.

Now I’m off to an inspection.

Things To Do While I’m Away

I’m going to take my wife down to Austin, TX for a few days beginning tomorrow morning.  No big exciting real estate deals though we will be meeting for lunch with Benn and Lani of AgentGenius.  And I will be getting some docs signed by a client who currently lives in Austin but is closing on a house in Kansas City here in about three weeks.  So I may not post for more than a couple days.

Watch the BawldGuy
Jeff Brown over at BawldGuy.com has promised to talk about figuring expenses.  He did a teaser last evening that I commented on.  Can’t wait to see what he comes up with.  If you are a real estate investor you will definitely need to see what Jeff has to say.  Jeff may root for the wrong baseball team.  But he knows his numbers. 

Calculate Your Principal Reduction
I’ve said many, many times before that my favorite of the 4 Benefits of Real Estate Investing is Principal Reduction.  If you own rental property you need to know what this benefit is to you this year.  It will cheer you up knowing that someone else is helping you to pay down your loan.  Trust me.  Just get out your amortization chart and figure out how much of each payment is going towards principal reduction.  It’s free money!  Or at least I like to think of it that way.  🙂

Smoke Some Ribs
Here’s what I like to do.  Get some K&M Barbeque dry rub from the Kansas City BBQ Store and rub a healthy dose into a slab of ribs.  Set up your grill/smoker to about 225-250 degrees of indirect heat with plenty of hickory chips or cherry chips for flavoring.  Smoke for about 2 hours.  Then pull the ribs, wrap in foil and continue to cook at 325-350 degrees for the next 3 hours…or so.  You’ll have to check them to be sure they’re done.  Usually by this time I’ve quit paying attention to the time and I’ve had a couple beers while shooting the breeze with friends and family or listening to the baseball game.  When you can bend the slab in half while the meat begins to pull from the bone you’re done!  Slather on your favorite bbq sauce ( I like to go with Zarada’s, Gates or whatever I’m experimenting with at the time) and smoke an additional 10-15 minutes or so uncovered.   Now, it’s time to eat.

Yes! Corp BBQ Leaving Kansas City’s Power & Light

A story by the Kansas City Star today says Famous Dave’s is leaving the Kansas City Power & Light District.  Thank you, God.  The last thing I ever wanted to happen was for some poor out-of-towner to think that was Kansas City BBQ.  Jeez. 

Good riddance.  Adieu.  Bon voyage.