Market Analysis - where would you start?

[Lindsey R.]

If you were asked you to perform an in-depth market research analysis for single family investment properties in a market you were unfamiliar with, where would you start and what processes would you employ to acquire data regarding which neighborhoods would offer the best return and stability?

Thanks!

[Ali Boone]

I would first see how many other people have already gathered and run all of that data. See if it already exists somewhere so you don't have to reinvent the wheel. 

Outside of that, or as part of that, my tactic has always been to find people who are much smarter than I am on running that kind of info and piggybacking off of that (of course with my brain attached to ensure I believe what they are telling me). 

Then outside of that, if you really want to do it all yourself, I've always believed property managers are the absolute best people to ask when it comes to rentals. They know the specific neighborhoods and streets best, the rentability of all the areas (which is key), and where the best chance for stability might be...since they are often the ones dealing with it. They may not necessarily be able to speak to to the direct numbers/returns, but you can run those yourself when you see some properties in the various areas.

What are you hoping to do? Is this for your own personal investing or something else?