Burbank, CA · Member since 2016 · 39 posts · 3 votes
Other than the ARV (after repair value), does area have any impact on your flip strategy? For example, what changes in your deal analysis do you make to account for the area's quality?
In addition, what things can I look for in an area (online, preferably) in order to estimate whether it is an A, B, C or D?.
There are websites with crime maps and school ratings to help you sort out desirable neighorhoods. Try city-data.com for a start. Remember the age of your property factors here too. Best of luck with your investments.
My strategy is always the same. I look at comps to see what improvement they made & how fast they sold. If the Days on Market is good and the level of rehab needed to sell quickly fits in the budget I make an offer. Otherwise, I move onto the next deal regardless of the area. I haven't found a house that will work in a D area as of now, but you never know.
I'm figuring out neighborhoods from afar (moving soon to a new area). I'm just a newbie but here's what I do. Look at the house and comps on redfin, check the school districts. Make sure they are the same as your comps (or they're not comps at all). Check the "grade" they are ranked which will give you an idea the quality of the neighborhood. Then I look at google street view. I look at the cars on the street (Mercedes or broken down Geos?), the condition of the yards & sidewalks, is there trash/rubble? Be sure to take note of the year in the upper left hand corner, some google street views are older. Then I do google maps nearby to look for signs of quality of a neighborhood. Is there check cashing places or yoga studios that type of thing. Is it next to an airport, freeway? Etc.
Then go on your local BP forum and ask about the zip codes. I also google news for the local areas. Any articles about trendy neighborhoods, that type of thing.
the type of area affects the type of flip you do as well. the quality of your finishes (Granite and tile) are for the nicer A neighborhood while C neighborhood you might get away with Laminate and laminate. some cities can be neighborhood, even streets, can be drastically different, so the driving around on google maps idea is a good one.
Thank you all so much for your input! I've definitely got some new things I want to keep in mind when evaluating deals based on area, and some direction as to how to evaluate an area.