Historical Rent / Price Data - Where to Find?

[Mark Woodworth]

I know this has been asked in different variations before but wanted to see if perhaps the landscape has changed. As far as I'm aware, most people use some combination of Craigslist, Zillow, and Rentometer as first pass before performing a more detailed analysis.  Are there other sources that are particular well known for reliable / granular data? Paid or otherwise? The devil is in the details and it's tough to accurately reflect nuance related to things like property age, school district zoning, footprint, number of beds, curb appeal etc - what I'm looking for is more or less a way to filter a list of desirable markets based price/rent ratios on a current but also historic basis.  Zillow has good history data but it's rental set lumps single and multifamily together, and it's just one number - no way to distinguish a property's characteristics.  Rentometer looks potentially better since the paid version allows you to add property details and separate single vs multifamily, but it's tough to know how accurate it is without spending serious time testing it.. maybe others have?

A related question on deal sourcing: how do others do it? Running the numbers once you have a property in mind is straight-forward, but finding which markets are even worth evaluating is a whole other thing.  It's not practical to look at every market by hand without some sort of coarse filter, so I'm curious to hear how others find deals which fit their parameters.  In this particular economic environment with prices sky high and rates where they are, it seems exceedingly difficult to, for example, find a property that would meet the "50%" rule unless you're playing in the mud somewhere like Detroit.  What sort of tools do you all use to assist your efforts?

[Melissa Hartvigsen]

Craigslist, Zillow, and Rentometer will only show what properties were advertised for. Not what they actually signed a lease for, or if it included concessions like free rent.

Most people don’t think to do this: call the apartment complexes in the area. Tell them you are landlord nearby and would like to know their comps. Most will answer your questions about the size, amenities, price, etc.

Costar compiles data on a national level by interviewing multi family apartment complexes in as many markets as possible. Back when I was a property manager, I used to get monthly calls from them asking about rent for each of the unit sizers offered, what concessions were available, how many new tenants we moved in, and what our vacancy rate was. Costar also owns apartments.com and loopnet.com. They tracked lease information there as well.
For a monthly subscription fee, you can have access to the reports which will give you lease amounts in most major markets in the country. If you’re just doing short term research, you can sign up for the free trial.

Rent café is a software that many landlords use, but they also track and report rent based on leases is in an area. Google “Average rent café prices (your city)” and you should be able to find a breakdown. 

Regarding your question about deal sourcing, I would use some of the same sources to look at rents in markets that you were considering. I would use the Costar or LoopNet resources to look up which areas have the highest cap rates. I would narrow down your list from there.

In most markets around the country it’s no longer possible to meet the 50% rule. Many investors will have to switch to a more long-term plan where they are counting on property appreciation. That’s something we have been used to in the Portland, Oregon market for many years, our cap rate has hovered between 4% and 5%.