Generating your own rental comps

[Spenser Murphy]

I'm looking at properties to potentially buy and rent. I want to make sure the rents needed to cash-flow are marketable. I've looked at rentals on Zillow to get a general idea. What do you do to find out what a property will rent for? 

[Bryan O.]

Hi @Spenser Murphy. If you are not yet serious on a property just use the typical sites: craigslist, zillow, hotpads, etc. You will see what the availability is in the area, what the sizes/room counts, finish levels, etc. It doesn't take much in terms of effort or knowledge to narrow that down. Once you have figured out the neighborhoods that you are going to focus on you can speak with property management companies around to get a feel for the market: what kind of tenants, vacancy time, etc. If you are considering management in the future it isn't a waste of anyone's time once you have done your initial checking.

Best of luck and happy investing.