Any great sources to learn about different locations?

[Josh Rodriguez]

Hello BP, I have been analyzing deals mostly out of state. Some locations I am either not too familiar with or I don't know a thing about. 

My question is, what are some great sources to find more in depth information about certain locations/neighborhoods? (e.g. crime rates, population, employment rate etc.)

[Scott Passman]

@Josh Rodriguez Here are some resources to help you analyze different markets: 

Census Bureau: American Community Survey (ACS)  The ACS was launched in 2005 and is administered every year by the Census Bureau to roughly three and a half million households in the USA. This dataset contains over 18,000 data points, which are tabulated at the state, MSA, county, city, zip, and block level. This survey contains hundreds of KPIs that investors should use when searching for new markets to invest into. Here is a list of a few that are of great value:· Population Total· Home Values· Household Incomes· Poverty Rate· Population Age· Rental Vacancy Rate*· Homeowner Vacancy Rate*· Educational Attainment Rate (High School/GED & Bachelors)· Number of Housing Unit· Rent to Income Ratio*· Rent to Price Ratio*· Population on SNAPS (supplemental nutrition assistance program) percentage· Property Tax Rate*· Median Age of Buildings· Number of Structures by Units (SFR, Duplex, Triplex, Quadplex, etc...)· Median Rents by Number of Bedrooms· Population Change (Births, Deaths, In-Migrations, Immigrants)*note that some of the metrics are composites that are computed by comparing two or more variables from the ACSA number of the variables above can also be broken up into cohorts, which will give you even more insight into how an area is doing. This will better help you get an understanding of not just where market is today, but also where it may be heading. You wouldn't want to buy into an area that is declining rapidly where the tenant quality is decreasing along with the area.

Bureau of Labor Statistics: Current Employment Statistics (CES)The Current Employment Statistics (CES) program produces detailed industry estimates of employment, hours, and earnings of workers on payrolls every month. CES National Estimates produces data for the nation, and CES State and Metro Area produces estimates for all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and about 450 metropolitan areas and divisions. Each month, CES surveys approximately 142,000 businesses and government agencies, representing approximately 689,000 individual worksites.  The CES is the gold standard when it comes to analyzing the job growth of a market. As an investor you will want to look at the number of jobs add/removed within a market. In addition to this figure, the CES provides more granular data for jobs tabulated using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). This system allows you to get a very detailed picture of how the local job market is composed. You will want to avoid markets where a single industry dominates the local economy in the number of jobs since these kinds of markets a incredibly susceptible to swings in the market.

Census Bureau: Building Permits Survey (BPS) The purpose of the Building Permits Survey (BPS) is to provide national, state, and local statistics on the number and valuation of new privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in the United States. The Building Permits Survey covers all "permit-issuing places," which are jurisdictions that issue building or zoning permits. About half of the permit-issuing places in the United States are surveyed monthly. The remainder of places are surveyed annually.  Using data from the BPS, investors can get an idea of the supply and demand dynamics within their market. Coupled with migration data from the ACS, this can be a very powerful dataset to use when attempting to predict future housing prices, vacancy, and absorption rates.

Federal Bureau of Investigation: Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR)The Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program compiles official data on crime in the United States, published by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). UCR is a nationwide, cooperative statistical effort of nearly 18,000 city, university and college, county, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement agencies voluntarily reporting data on crimes brought to their attention. UCR data is published annually by the FBI.UCR data is reported as either violent or property crime, which then break down further into eight possible sub-crime categories. Investors will want to ensure that the areas they are investing into have low rates of crime, or are at the very least improving over time.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA)The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) requires many financial institutions to maintain, report, and publicly disclose loan-level information about mortgages. HMDA data is the most comprehensive source of publicly available information on the U.S. mortgage market. HMDA data is released annually. Investors can look at the types of loans being given, weather the property is used a primary residence or investment, and the demographic information of the borrower. It's possible to also tabulate the data by the type of property (residential or commercial). This data is tabulated at the census tract level, which allows for a tremendous about of granularity when conducting market research. Investors should use this data to identify areas where other investors are buying as well as to get a better understanding of the demographics of buyers in the area.

Datausa.io  This is another great site that compiles a lot of information on demographics, housing inventory and appreciation etc. in a very easy to navigate format.