Choosing Places to Invest -- with Software

[Steven McCord]

I am considering developing a web-based mapping platform that will allow single family home investors -- and their service providers/advisors -- to quickly determine suitable locations in the US to focus their investment efforts (down to the block group or subdivision).

I wanted to get some quick feedback on whether you would use such a tool or think that someone would.

My thinking is the target audience is people with no geographic restriction and are open to anything -- the ultimate out-of-state-investor -- who wants to find areas worth focusing on. Of course, there are ways to make money in any market, but I think we're talking about the passive buy-and-hold investor.

The system would take demographic, economic, and sales/rent data to allow you to start from the whole U.S. and then filter down -- to very specific small areas -- that meet the requirements for your investment objective and merit a closer look. It would be done through a weighted scoring system, with weightings and variables pre-configured. And brilliantly visually displayed on a mapping platform.

For example, you are a buy and hold investor and you want an (estimated) average net yield above a certain level, with the lowest possible crime, highest possible school rating, lowest possible average holding costs, reasonable liquidity (transaction volume), and in a metro that hasn't already doubled since the last market trough (i.e. not that hot). The result is a set of locations worth a closer look.

That is something really hard to identify by going and looking at listings with today's listing-specific tools. My goal is to make the process a lot faster.

Is this something that might be useful?