Gentrification and maximizing profits

[Curt Bixel]

I am a high school science teacher with a small rental property business on the side. I started in 1993 when I purchased a duplex and rehabbed it while living in it. Did this with both sides.

I purchased several more properties between 2001 and 2005, which was a terrible time to purchase. I overpaid and struggled to get through the Great Recession until appreciation in both property values and rent pretty much solved all the problems caused by not really having any idea of the business side of things.

I have decided to refinance several properties to have the funds necessary to be a cash buyer and am now looking at ways to purchase properties at a discount and make good, numbers and researched based decisions on where, when, and what to buy.

As I learn more and more, it seems clear that the numbers indicate that the best strategies involve choosing area that are headed for significant appreciation, and areas that are likely to undergo gentrification offer the best possibility for maximizing profits.

I have some reservations about this. I wonder if anyone else has given this some thought and perhaps has come up with some strategies that provide for strong returns that do not involve such large degrees of community change.