Montgomery Alabama Neighborhood Classes

[Mike Perry]

I am starting to really research the Montgomery, Alabama market in hopes of purchasing this upcoming Fall/Winter. In my analysis, I think I have a good idea of what the A and D areas are. Where I am struggling is identifying the B and C areas. If anyone has better insights of what the Montgomery neighborhood classes are, it would be greatly appreciated. My guess of the classes are listed below. 

Neighborhood	Class	Zip Codes
Young Place	A	36106
Arrowhead	A	36117
East Montgomery	A	36116; 36117; 36119
Brentwood	A	36111
Old Cloverdale	A	36106
Forest Park	A	36106
Cottage Hill	A	36104
McGehee-Allendale	A	36111
Edgewood	A	36106; 36111
Cloverdale	B	36106
Hillwood	B	36106
Ridgefield	B	36106
Steiner	B	36106
Dalraida	B	36109
Forest Hills	B	36109
Wildwood	B	36111
Garden District	B	36104
Centennial Hill	C	36104
Capitol Heights	C	36107
Normandale	C	36111
Highland Park	D	36107
Arlington	D	36105
Edgemont Heights	D	36105
South Hull	D	36105
Wiley	D	36105
Washington Park	D	36108
Westend	D	36108
Western Hills	D	36108
Westgate	D	36108
Westview Gardens	D	36108
Windwood	D	36108
Woodland Hills	D	36116
Woodley Park	D	36116
Boylston	D	36110

[Greg Parker]

I agree with your classifications.  Looks like you are 95% on target.

Not all of 36117 is A, the older areas will be B.

36104 is all over the place from A to D.

Capitol Heights has some solid B streets.

36110 has some nice C, almost B areas, but also some D.

[Peter Vekselman]

@Mike Perry

the only time this information is pertinent is if you are looking to hold to properties.  

if you are in the get in and get out strategies like fix and flips or wholesaling then its all about the numbers in the deal.  if the equity makes sense you can make money in all types of neighborhoods.

good luck!!!!

[Mike Perry]

Quote from @Greg Parker:

I agree with your classifications.  Looks like you are 95% on target.

Not all of 36117 is A, the older areas will be B.

36104 is all over the place from A to D.

Capitol Heights has some solid B streets.

36110 has some nice C, almost B areas, but also some D.

 Awesome, thanks for the additional context @Greg Parker!

[Mike Perry]

Quote from @Peter Vekselman:

@Mike Perry

the only time this information is pertinent is if you are looking to hold to properties.  

if you are in the get in and get out strategies like fix and flips or wholesaling then its all about the numbers in the deal.  if the equity makes sense you can make money in all types of neighborhoods.

good luck!!!!

 Thanks Peter, I should have provided my buy criteria. I would be looking to buy and hold and I am targeting B-/C+ neighborhoods.

[Dave Currence]

hey guys- that's a comprehensive list there, @Mike Perry. You're clearly doing some homework. I have to say though, I dont really know how any neighborhood in MGM can truly be an "A"? Crime is an issue in every neighborhood, and even in Old Cloverdale, where some of the most expensive real estate lies, you can go one block over and run the risk of random violence occurring. I grew up in Montgomery, and my mom is still there, and I am always considering making some investments there but I stay worried about the overall quality of life catching up with the investability of the city. For instance, I grew up in East Montgomery (Bellwood and Woodmere neighborhoods). They are still OK places to live but I certainly would not consider them "A" neighborhoods....same goes for the surrounding neighborhoods that were higher end when I was growing up like Halcyon, etc.I say all this, because I would love for someone to convince me otherwise, as I would like to get involved down there and I think it would be relatively easy for me to set up a team down there. I know there are wholesalers galore doing deals in Montgomery, and probably are some people investing successfully, but I dont know anyone personally who is achieving great success in Montgomery, so I would love to hear from some. I do know some folkks doing development down there, and a couple of folks doing some mid size multifamily buy and holds that are offering steady returns but they are diversified across many markets...not solely Montgomery. 

[Greg Parker]

Definetaly some A neighborhoods out east, Deer Creek, Wynlakes, etc.

I have helped lots of investors purchase about 300 houses in Montgomery in the past 4 years.  We are still getting really close to the 1% rule and have seen some great appreciation.

As far as crime goes, I suppose you could argue, there are no A neighborhoods in the United States anywhere.  The survey compiled by https://ocindex.net/rankings ranked all nations and The US was the 129th safest place to live.  But, who wants to move to Iceland?(#1 safest)

[Dave Currence]

@Greg Parker fair enough. I suppose having a gated community helps alleviate security concerns (though I gave many a Wynlakes security guard a hard time in my teen years ;) ). To be clear, I’m not arguing against investing in Montgomery. I’m just trying to get more clarity myself. I’ve thought about getting a few fix and flips together down there, while evaluating some longer term BnH purchases. I think it’s affordability is still appealing to buyers, but you just can’t ignore the decline in many of the more affordable locations. Much of my hesitancy is buoyed by anecdotal evidence like how many people I know who have decided to leave Montgomery. That said, I know people who operate successful businesses there, often from other locations and find great success. One of my good buddies owns a number of restaurants there, and he does well with them because of the low cost of operation and the ability to purchase the RE at a couple of the locations (benefits that are near impossible to achieve in many more upscale markets).

I can tell deals are moving down there, as I get emails regularly with wholesale deals that seem to come and go very quickly. No doubt, people are making moves there…I just haven’t done enough due diligence to go back and see what kind of work has been done on the units and what they traded for/how quickly they traded, etc.

[Greg Parker]

Its hard to find a good flip with any profit in it, but we are doing rather well with the buy and holds.  Most of them need 10-15k renovation.  Yep, same thing here with the security guards in the 80's....lol.

In a number crunch of 300 cities using 10 metrics ranging from home prices to tax rates to vacancy levels, WalletHub determined that Montgomery, Alabama, was the nation’s most affordable city for homebuyers. Rounding out the top 10 of affordable homeownership cities were Flint, Michigan; Toledo, Ohio; Detroit; Akron, Ohio; Warren, Michigan; Pittsburgh; Yuma, Arizona; Springfield, Illinois; and Palm Bay, Florida

[German Vellon]

That is about right..i have some properties in Montgomery