Newbie in Grand Rapids, MI

[Sarat K.]

Hello! I am new to the world of real estate investing. I am a physician by profession and I intend to continue as such while gaining skills and knowledge in this field of REI which I have long held an interest. Admittedly, only recently have I stopped making excuses and actually taken the time to educate myself on the subject matter. At this point, after months of reading and audiobooks, and in an effort to not fall victim to analysis-paralysis, I plan to take the first step and purchase a property to buy and hold.

My plan is to invest in an SFRs in the top school districts in metro GR. A search for rentals in the neighborhoods closer to downtown yields an enormous number of results. However, searches in the EGR and Ada/Cascade neighborhoods yield far fewer results. My thought is to target this latter sector wherein families new to the region would search for rental houses. If they are like me, they would only consider houses in the top school districts but would want to rent for a while before committing. If I am an anomaly then I hope someone from this forum with knowledge of the GR market will correct me before I make such any foolish investment mistakes. :) Cheers!

-Sarat

[Tim Johnson]

you get a lot of college kids and starter familes in those areas.  People that work in the medical field.  Normally during a down economy college enrollment picks up so its a win win.