how do i avoid

[George Courtney]

how do i avoid purchasing in warzone areas in states i don't live?

Many Thanx

[Marcus LaGrone]

George,

Here a few ways,
Contact management companies or agents that are familiar with helping investors acquire properties and simply tell them what your criteria is and ask what areas they would recommend.

From there, you do your own due diligence according to the information that was provided. One of the first filters for determining if a property is in a war zone is the fraud in the area. Most war zones have had extremely high mortgage fraud in the last 24-36 months and many banks have flagged these areas. I am not saying this will be 100% accurate, but it’s a good start if used with the following .
1) Cross check the selling prices with the median sales price for the area. If the properties are way below the median for the area, its probably a blighted area.
2) Check the income levels for the area. Average household income will usually match up to the sales prices. If the average household income in a given Zip Code (for example) is 80k but the majority of the houses that your are looking at are running $10,0000 more than likely you are in a hard hit pocket.
3) Check the school rankings. The most blighted areas will normally have the worst schools in the area.

Numbers are normally the biggest determining factor. Find the median and work from there and you will have a decent start. Also, if you are looking to really do a lot of business in an area…why not take a few days, fly in, and look around. It could be the difference between a huge success and huge failure.