Interesting neighborhood

[Tommy B.]

I have a local neighborhood about 20 minutes from my house that took a big hit on property values. I've been checking it out on Zillow and Trulia and found a house that appears to be lived in and priced about $15K-$20K below the other houses for sale in the neighborhood. It has been listed since Aug of 2012 and started @ $118K and is now down into the mid $80s. The value peaked @ $130K before the crash. It looks like rents average about $950 a month according to rentometer.com. I drove through the neighborhood a couple of times and took note of all the rental signs. I searched them and they are being offered for anywhere from $1000-$1,150 per month, which is higher than my research indicates.

The neighborhood is actually very nice, with plenty of parks and schools nearby. The interesting thing is that it is located in the future downtown development. The city wants the area to be the new center of town. It has a new hospital, a new corporate office for a major National company, and a few other big developments so there seems to be ample employment and all the ingredients for growth. I think I can pick this house up for ~$80K and rent it for $900- $1000 per month.

I'm trying to poke holes in this, but I can't.