Info on Fort Wayne, IN

[Steve Curry]

I am very interested in feedback from people who know the Fort Wayne, IN housing market and rental market. This is one of the markets I am researching. I live out of the area and I am looking at the possibility of buying a turnkey SFH investment. Most of the homes I am currently looking at would rent for around $1,000 to $1,200 a month for fairly new (built 2009-2011) homes in (a 3 out of 5 rating) nice neighborhoods on the outskirts of Fort Wayne.

I have seen articles saying how hot the Fort Wayne area is for real estate investing. I have also seen articles about there being a lot of building for housing happening.

I am particularly interested in hearing from people who know the area about the following:

Do rentals like what I mentioned above stay rented well?

Does it seem the market is on its way up or is it more likely to have plateaued already?

What kind of industries and businesses employ people? Is it diverse?

Do you have the name of a property manager in the area that would be a good resource?

Any other information and thoughts you have about investing in this area are greatly appreciated.

[Michinori Kaneko]

So the ones that would rent for $1000~$1200 would probably be a house that goes over $100k in price easily (if it's a turnkey).  Probably more in the range of $120k~$180k (not new constructions, new constructions would cost way more).  They do rent well, the price to rent is slightly better in lower range housings (ones that goes for maybe $60~90k that rents for $700-900ish, but tenant quality won't be as good and you may experience more turnovers.  There are several REALLY BAD PMs in the area that I would tell you to stay away, but AG Rental is one that I would recommend.  However, if you are local and you are buying a turnkey, maybe you want to consider self managing. 

In Terms of valuation, there may be a little more upward push, but i don't expect a whole lot more.  The pricing has gone up SIGNIFICANTLY in past 2 years (or at least that's how long i've been investing for) and i cannot find the same deals I was finding 2 years ago anymore.  To give you an idea, the first property i purchased 2 years ago was pretty much a turnkey, i purchased it for $78k.  A year ago, that appraised for about $110k, it would appraise for higher now, probably closer to $130-140k would be my guess. Not sure if I should consider that lucky, or since it's very difficult to come across good deals nowadays not so lucky...