Market Research - Data Sources

Market Research - Data Sources

San Francisco, CA · Member since 2017 · 115 posts · 29 votes

Hiya folks,

Anyone out there know of data sources to use when performing market research on a new potential real estate market to invest in?

Here are some that come to mind:

1. Municipal websites and the news for upcoming projects/employers in a local area

2. Census for employment/population data

3. Housing starts construction data (where to get this data at a local level?)

4. Zillow, Redfin and the like for historical real estate sales data

5. Craigslist for rental data

6. Driving a neighborhood and attending open houses

What else am I missing, if anything?

Sasha

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Real Estate Broker · Bay Area · Member since 2018 · 1k+ posts · 3k+ votes
7y

Hi Sasha,

Are you looking for a market out of state?   Honestly picking a market is not that hard and going through that list is actually overcomplicating it. 

Picking a market is like 20% of investing. Having a process to analyze, find, and buy rentals is 80%.   Focus on what matters the 80%.  20% is not that important.

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  • Real Estate Broker · Bay Area · Member since 2018 · 1k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    7y

    Hi Sasha,

    Are you looking for a market out of state?   Honestly picking a market is not that hard and going through that list is actually overcomplicating it. 

    Picking a market is like 20% of investing. Having a process to analyze, find, and buy rentals is 80%.   Focus on what matters the 80%.  20% is not that important.

  • San Francisco, CA · Member since 2017 · 115 posts · 29 votes
    7y

    @Frank Wong

    Potentially yes, out of state.

    What is your process for picking a market?

  • Developer · Charlottesville, VA · Member since 2018 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    7y

    @Sasha Josephs it all depends on what you're looking to do. Different markets are better for different types of properties and development projects. CBRE has a lot of great market reports. You can generally google best market to invest in (whatever you are looking to do) and you will get lots of info. Once you get a general idea then you can call brokers and property management companies as well as other investors and developers in the area to learn more.

  • Real Estate Consultant · Denver, CO · Member since 2021 · 11 posts · 8 votes
    4y

    Hello Sasha,

    I just saw this post and I thought I would send a link of some sources that I use or other professionals use in their research at a post I just made in the link below!

    https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

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