Real Estate Market Research/Analysis

[Christian De Jesus]

Hello all,

One of the things that I keep hearing in the podcasts and reading in the blogs and forum posts here is the importance of market research. My questions revolve around this topic.

What data do you use to perform market research?
Where do you get these data?
Could you share some resources, tips, thoughts on RE market research?

Thanks!

[David Beard]

Well, at a very drilled-down level, it's helpful to use city-data.com to research by zip code in an unfamiliar MSA, looking at things such as median income, median home price, % living below poverty level, % of renters, etc. I use this information to try to target the "sweet spot" zip codes with highest potential risk-adjusted return. You can also see population trends, # of sex offenders, and lots of other information. Just a rough screening tool, obviously, to try and identify the solid B to C+ areas.

http://www.city-data.com/zips/zip code.html