City map by neighborhood class type?

Question

I got pretty confident with numbers while analyzing deals but one thing that always gives me a lot of pain is what is the best way to analyze a particular neighborhood (s). I can find a crime map, can see schools, walk/transit scores, median income, rent growth, etc but all this information is in different sources, and for different states it's even more diverse. Everyone is saying  A-B-C-D-F neighborhoods, where can I find a rank for the neighborhood I'm interested in, and also compare it to a nearby neighborhood like a heatmap or something visual? Is there a single place to check the neighborhood class-type map for a selected city/state?

Evan Polaski · Answer

@Alex S., as Jaron and Scott note, this involves knowing the ins and outs of the markets. One person's A is another's B, and possibly a third person's C. And at the end of the day, what I say, or Jaron or Scott says is a B, doesn't matter if your tenant base doesn't feel the same.

As for broader neighborhoods, I personally live and invest directly in Cincinnati and specifically the older neighborhoods. In this type of area, you can't just say "Pleasant Ridge is a B, Kennedy Heights is a B-/C+, and Golf Manor is a C/C-". There are streets in Kennedy Heights that are nicer than Pleasant Ridge. There are pockets of Golf Manor that are better than certain pockets of Pleasant Ridge.

All feed into the same school district.

But I like Jaron's last comment, and this is hard to do if you are out of state, but I only buy properties that I would live in if I needed to.  I am a small time investor, but have done pretty well with my rentals and flips. And I think a lot of it is because I only buy properties that I would live in myself, if I ever needed to.

Lee Ripma · Answer

Checkout Vestmap.com DISCERN reports, it’s got what you’re looking for and you can test it out with a free trial.

Scott Mac · Answer

I make my own digitally with overlays using gimp.

This involves demographics, as well as boots on the ground and google drive by.

It takes a few days, and some good coffee.

Good Luck!

Alex S. · Answer

Thank you, guys, for the helpful insights!

@Jaron Walling When I was investing in Washington (before it got crazy expensive) I was able to go and check neighborhoods myself, or at least had some level of familiarity with cities/neighborhoods. Now I try to invest out of state, and every day I'm looking into different states even cities within new states it takes a lot of time to get familiar with a city so I was looking for some visual help and existing maps to benefit from, at least with a quick overview.

@Scott Mac startup idea to automate data collection and aggregation and put it out as an interactive map :) Thanks for sharing your approach.

@Evan Polaski I'm sure that once a property is selected for purchase there should be much more due diligence but at the research stage an error between B and C or A and B is fine with me. Now when I look at each new city, I cannot tell if it's F or B, and having even a rough map would help to cut on bad neighborhoods and warzones. Totally agree that the dynamics are always changing so I'm looking for dynamic maps, which are automatically updated based on schools, crime, walk scores, transit scores, desirability, etc.

Jaron Walling · Answer

@Alex S. There really isn't a site with maps that you're looking for. A few BP members have created neighborhood class maps but only for select cities. Keep in mind maps get outdated as neighborhoods shift, houses get flipped, rents increase, and economies grow.

Are you over thinking this?... Your profile says Washington. Nothing is stopping you from driving, bicycling, or taking public transit and exploring target neighborhoods. It's market research for a reason. I did this exact thing for 6 months before I bought my first property. I got exercise at the same time and quickly figured out not all locations are equal. LOCATION is everything> pick the wrong one and you'll hold for years with little appreciation, bad tenants, or both. Property condition is second and PM would be third. It's all about the fridge or solid B/C+ class areas. If you don't see positive activity (coffee shops, trendy restaurants, flips, road improvements, city parks, people walking) we don't buy there. If you wouldn't live there yourself we don't buy there.

City map by neighborhood class type?

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