How to evaluate a market

[Mohammad Khan]

Hello everyone,

I just moved to a new city (LA) and I am thinking about buying investment properties in the area. I am seeking your guidance on how I go about researching the market? Some of the houses I have looked at through my realtor have decent cash flow, but when I checked out the zip code of the properties on USA.com I see a negative growth rate in those zip codes. Also, the real estate agent I am working with thinks that those properties are in upcoming neighborhoods. my concern is that how can I validate that a property is indeed in an upcoming neighborhood when USA.com shows a negative growth rate? Also, How do I identify an upcoming neighborhood. I have searched this question on the internet and I found that if there is a renovation or new construction going on in the neighborhood is a one of sign. I am curious to know how you go about searching for an upcoming neighborhood?  Also, I am wondering how many of you rely on USA.com and how accurate you think it is? I have used USA.com for my prior investment properties purchases and It was very helpful in the past.