question about Indianapolis rental market

[Isaac Geller]

Hi BP community!

I am interested in a rental property in Indy 

zip code seems like a c minus area, and I am considering a duplex. Numbers looks good, but I am a bit worried about the tenants quality in this area and want to make sure that I don't fall into a honey trap

I was wondering if there is a landlord here with experience in zip 46221 that I can consult with.

Thanks! 

[Ross Denman]

I can give you some ideas. Zip codes in general are pretty broad and this one is no exception. The eastern most part of 46221 goes all the way downtown near Lucas Oil Stadium. This area may be good OK for rentals, but I would consider AirBNB. A little further west you get to the old "Valley" which is S of Rhodius Park. This is an industrial feeling area with flood zones near Eagle Creek that keep property values suppressed. It can be a pretty trashy area, but that will likely change with some of the private and public developments going on. Specifically 16Tech and Waterside. Just south of this area is the landfill, trash incinerator, and waste water treatment center. Once again, very industrial. Continuing SW from there you get to Maywood. Maywood is a C area. The rent very quickly, but most of the residents in the area are low level blue collar. Think backyard mechanics. I know that we manage a couple of homes here and we have a home that claims that they can smell the trash from the landfill on breezy days.

Further West and South of the 46221 zip code gets better. We manage several homes in the Old Mill Park area. The usually rent to pretty good tenants. We also have some west of this area closer to Camby that do very well.

Basically, it depends on the address. Make sure that you're not in a flood zone or in an area with other properties in flood zones nearby (suppresses land values,) look at the crime rate in the area, identify the nearest railroad track, recycling facility, land fill, etc and make sure that you are at least .5 miles from any of those areas and you'll probably be fine.