Indications that a market is turning around

[Ashan D]

Scott Scheel mentions that for bigger properties it is tough to get a good deal in markets that are already showing good indications of future growth (either already in the process of growing, or showing the "obvious" increases in population/job growth) He says the best deals are frequently found in weak or even declining markets where you have much better leverage with sellers.

This is a risky proposition because real estate trends seem to last quite a while, but if timed correctly an investor can do much better than average by getting in early before the rest of the herd does.

Do you guys have any ideas of how to anticipate a potential turnaround area before the census data refects it (IMO this data is a beacon to RE investors) I have a couple ideas I think may be worth looking into:

-Projected inflow of large, new employer
-New transportation artery
-Unaccounted change (in census data) of demographics (undesirables moving out, nicer crowd moving in)
-Perhaps a well structured conversation with someone at the economic planning department to find out how close to fruition some upcoming changes are taking place.