Best Market Research Tools

[Chris Mooney]

Hi all,

Just wanted to see what kind of resources you all are using while researching markets to invest in. I know many of us are looking to invest outside of areas we are local to, so knowing where to invest in a new area can be tough. I have been browsing Neighborhoodscout.com and it offers some really great insights into neighborhoods. You can drill down into zip codes and even sub areas within those zip codes. It covers crime, vacancy rates, and a lot more. It's really a great resource!

What do you all use for conducting market research, aside from Bigger Pockets of course :)

[Collin Placke]

Neighborhood scout is a great tool, here's a few more:

10 year population growth: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/provocityutah/PST045219

Industry Diversity (VERY important post-corona): https://wallethub.com/edu/cities-with-the-most-least-diversified-economies/10852/

Millican Institute Best Cities Ranks

Unemployment/Job Growth: https://www.bls.gov/sae/#tables

I invest in multifamily, so I use a lot of CoStar reports for market info. Here is a copy and paste of everything on my market analysis spreadsheet for multifamily acquisitions. 

Population	Colorado Springs, CO
MSA Population	724000
Pop Growth % 2010-2018	13.2
Pop Growth Forecast (5yrs)	1.3
% 18-34 Year Olds	26.9
Jobs
Industry Diversity Rank	150
Industry Diversity Score	74.29
Unemployment	3.4
Best Cities Rank	58
Job Growth 2018-2019	2.9
5 Year Forecast Income Growth	4.2
Demographics/Crime
Median Household Income	58158
% Renters	42.3
Crime Rate (violent/1000)	5.35
Crime Rate (Property/1000)	32.96
Rental Info
Vacancy Rate	5.9
4&5 Star Effective Rent	1376
3 Star Effective Rent	1066
12 Mo. Rent Growth	5.8
12 Mo. Sales	100
12 Mo Avg Price/Unit	145000
Units Under Construction	1199
% Inventory Under Construction	2.8
Landlord Friendly Score	32.5