How to Choose a Growing Community to Buy Rental Home

[Jordan P Applegate]

Hi all,

Often people in this forum ask about buying in a specific community, but that doesn't help the rest of us so much.  I'm hoping this broader question yields some general principles that are widely applicable.  What are some key factors or characteristics that signal you a community is growing, thus a location you want to buy properties?  A follow-up question might be this: where can I dig for clues about things that are coming down the pipe, so to speak?  Examples might be a new highway, power line, or hospital.

Thanks!

Jordan

[Tamara Deering]

Building permit applications, zoning changes, unemployment rate, proximity to centers of employment, transportation bond applications, news reports about major employers targeting a market are all places you can look for growth indicators.  However, I think the best method for finding areas to invest in is to start with where you live, it is much easier to know what's going on and speculate on the future if you are intimately aware of the area you are trying to invest.  If you want to invest out of your immediate area then you still need to target a city and learn what's going on, unfortunately by the time an area is talked about widely it is usually saturated with competition.