Can a single investor impact the entire market?

[Account Closed]

Today I was driving around looking for potential investment properties to buy-rehab-and sell. I have recently been having a tough time getting anything under contract due to the lack of inventory and the level of competition in my target market.

Anyways, today I was given a lead on two properties that I could acquire for 15k a piece. Since I have come to the realization that I will have to expand my approach and may have a hard time finding something in my desired areas I decided to go check out the houses and scope out the surrounding homes. As you can imagine the area was very run down and many of the houses were very distressed. I was hoping to find other houses nearby that had been rehabbed and flipped for a profit. Unfortunately there were very few homes that appeared to be renovated. The nearby comps were no very promising either.

It is very sad to see homes located in such a prime spot only miles away from the city and other desirable locations that are so run down and low in value. The area is filled with SFH's that have the potential to be extremely beautiful with large lots.

I am debating on if I would like to take on a project like this, especially since other investors have steered clear of this market and see no potential for profit. One of these houses I looked at has a very solid base that has not been vandalized and would require an estimated rehab of about 25k for what I would like to sell the house for.

What I would like to know is do you all think Investing in certain areas can have a domino affect and attract other investors to the area? In my opinion I feel that all it takes is one investor willing to take a calculated risk on one of these homes to cause a chain reaction and bring value to the surrounding market. When people mention a certain area is becoming trendy it always seems to correlate directly to the housing value in that area. So if someone can afford to take on a risk and is willing to take the chance, then why not? Someone has to start the trend, right?