How to assess a town for rentals

Question

Assessing Rental Markets

Can someone point me in the right direction please. I am looking at a property in Franklin NH, but unsure of what the rental market is for that town. Craig's list shows a lot of "Free" first months rent or "No" security deposit. Does not look great from that prospective.  I would appreciate any feed back or direction on how to go about assessing this. It looks like a great property, but not if I cant rent it.

Denise Hoitt · Answer

Thank you Levi,

Checking out rentometer.com right now. I will also start looking to see what agents are in the area. This is all good stuff!

Denise Hoitt · Answer

No we have been sitting on it, but reached out to the Agent today for a viewing hopefully this weekend.

Steve Racicot · Answer

@Denise Hoitt Did you ever put an offer on the property..

Denise Hoitt · Answer

Good tips! Thank you Andrew.

Levi T. · Answer

Always start by checking population data; https://www.google.fr/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instan.. I see Franklin has been flat for a long time, not going down, so that's good. Personally I want an area that is always on the up and up vs flat or down, I won't touch them if they are not.Check other sources other than CL. CL can be a bit of a bottom feeder in some towns in terms of rentals. Go to Zillow and search for rentals, see whats currently listed, look at how long they have been listed, has the price been reduced over that time, etc. Check rentometer.com for pricing to cross compare to the other data sources. Other things you can do your already doing, ask on here to see if anyone knows the market well. You can also talk to some local agents, or PM companies in the area, just tell them your looking at buying a rental in that area and wanted to know their opinion on that market.

Denise Hoitt · Answer

Thanks Stephen,

I reached out to my RE to see if they can find information on the rental market there. I am feeling a bit overwhelmed. LOL - Newbie I am!

Stephen Polizzi · Answer

Hi Denise,

I've heard a lot of mixed reviews and innuendo about Franklin too.  I'm in the Tilton/Franklin area at least a couple times a week and it seems like there's plenty of jobs and activity.  I'm not an experienced landlord, so take this with a grain of salt.

My guess is that you aren't going to get a lot of "young professional" type tenants there and rents will be in the low-mid range, a lot of D+ to C+ areas.  Don't have any insight into which areas to target or which to avoid, sorry. If you're comfortable with older units, lower rents, probably higher turnover etc you'd most likely do fine there, assuming the numbers all work on the particular property you're interested in of course. There are always exceptions both for and against you, but I think you'd have to really know the area to find them.

Denise Hoitt · Answer

I am aware of the area and that it is depressed, but it does have a hospital and is very close to the Tilton outlets and Laconia. The listing shows the property as looking very nice. Which is one reason why I am considering. Not  totally ready yet to purchase, but thought it would be a good practice.  Plus you never know sometimes!

Thanks for the imput!