Is Cordova, TN 38018 a good place to invest?

[Ying Ding]

First time investor in Memphis. I live out of state so I have very little knowledge about Memphis area. One opportunity came up, which is a SFR around Cordova, TN 38018 area. It is asking for 170K for a 4br/ 2 bath. The condition is good. I want to buy and hold. So I would like to invest in an area that is easy to rent.

I looked around the forum and looks like midtown is the best place for rental investment. There is not much about Cordova area. Could anyone provide some info about the rental market on Cordova, TN 38018. Also is 170K for a 4br/2bath a good buy?

Thanks a lot!

Ying

[Alex Craig]

While I do not disagree that Cordova is not the area it used to be as investors have bought heavy, the reality is, Memphis is a city that is going to have 50% + renters and Cordova will fit right into that.  Cordova looked like the place to live up until 2008 and all of a sudden everyone found out they were severely underwater. There are still a lot of retail sales, much more then most of the other areas where investors look for cash flow.  Ikea though highly enough of Cordova to open their first TN store and Dave & Busters will be opening in Cordova too. Cheesecake factory opened up to and is doing a ton of biz. Gus's Fried Chicken is getting ready to relocate their Bartlett store to Cordova and I am confident they will do $3,000,000 in sales.  That is a ton of chicken. I am rarely out in the area, but I do like J Alexanders and that place is always packed too. One would not drive down Germantown Parkway and think "area of decline."  I think it would be better described as an area that peaked and has come back to reality of what the Memphis market is in the sub $140,000 market. My thought on Cordova is that South Cordova is better and as you get closer to Wolfchase, the area gets even more saturated because hedge funds love homes built after 2000.  We manage a few homes in Countrywood and that area continues to get $1,295 to $1,450 for 3 to 4 bed homes.  We added granite to our Countrywood home along with vinyl plank flooring which gives a clear advantage to other homes in the area.  Also manage a few homes just North of Countrywood and get $1,795 for one of those homes to a tenant that has been there for almost 4 years now.  Cordova is certainly an area where upgrades such as granite work well. I would warn heavily into thinking one can buy out there and provide a home that looks like the rest of the rentals and not expect to have longer periods of vacancy. If that is the plan, then I suggest getting with a property manager that is good at marketing and knows how to get homes rented in these type areas. 

@Jasmine Norris I agree with your areas, but for investors who want to own a large portfolio of homes will see several other good cash flow opportunities pass them. Keep in mind near the U of M area, there is new development apartments and condos that will be more attractive then some of the older homes for students that want to live within walking distance to the U of M.  I own a triplex on Kearney and for the first time in 3 years, I had a vacancy go 30 + days and I fixed up that place up with our standard footprint. I have been buying homes for my own portfolio and would love if I had an all Germantown and Collierville portfolio, but I would also not have very many properties if I took that approach. I own 2 in Collierville and have never found a cash flow deal under 200k in Germantown where the #'s are good.  CBU is good, but same deal, hard to find cash flow properties and your area to buy basically consist of the area close to Toby field .