Multifamily in Rural Areas - why are these unloved?

[Alex Forest]

I've noticed Multifamily residential in more rural areas tend to receive less interest from investors and therefore often have more attractive numbers. I'm not talking about way out in the boonies (with lots of SF but also v low rents), but rather the ones that are in a non urban or suburban region...they might be 30 or 45 min, or an hour to a more urban hub, but are rural in nature.  I wouldnt put certain subdivisions into this category, that are in small towns or part of a community, and are also 45 minutes commute to a more urban center.  The ones I'm talking about are often single structures on their own.

Often, it seems these MF offer/receive decent rents, have more units, are at more attractive price points, in turn offering great cash flow.

As an example, there was a 12 unit outside northern Virginia at $800k or $67k/unit roughly with rents at roughly $750 per unit with one vacancy while that unit was being renovated.  Its been awhile since I analyzed it, but it offered strong cash flow, (enough that even if there was no appreciation over time as a buy and hold investor, would have been fine with that). If you travel just 45 minutes to that urban center, units are 3 times that sales point. 1.25 hours to DC, and more like 8 to 12 times that for one unit.

Another example was a duplex at $175k that had rents that were comparable to other units in more urban areas that would have gone for 75% or more of this price.

I dont see a lot of these, but every once in a while they pop up, and they tend to sit on the MLS or crexi listing for awhile.  Also, this isnt a new observation, it's been the case for years.

Why are these type of MF rentals not getting the love?

[Patricia Steiner]

In my market - and the surrounding ones - what you described is not the case. Those properties tend to have more transient renters, lower rent price demand, and command a lot of time/attention with tenant drama. Covid has changed things even more and multi-family in general isn't as attractive as SFH with personal outdoor space when it comes to demand and higher rents. As one person shared "there's never been a better time to go cold turkey on people." My recommendation is to KNOW the market. Just because the seller is quoting rent prices doesn't mean it's being collected and that the "tenant entertainment" hasn't been a costly offset. Remember - numbers don't lie but the people who provide them do...they call it marketing. It's not...