Market Research / Family as boots on ground

[Jared W Smith]

Hello All! 

I am researching a market to jump in and purchase some rental properties for buy and hold out of state. This is likely to be an area I would like to stay in long term and build a portfolio.

I did the @Dave Meyer live pro workshop to find a market and have the following insight. (This is in the Southeast part of the country.)

Market Fundamentals

Population Growth: 1.8%
Median Household Income: $77,573
Wage/Income Growth: 7.3%
Unemployment Rate: 4.2%

Job Growth: 2.7% (slight decline last 2 yrs)
Home Ownership Rate: 59%
Median Age:  35

Employers are stables between Health, Tech., National Retailers & Shipping Companies, local schools and Banking

Crime is 1.06 Violent Crimes & 9.82 for Property Crimes

Schools are on average 6/7 out of 10. 

Landlord Friendly state and locale. 

Housing Market Conditions

Median Sale Price: $395k
• YoY Price Growth: 8.7%
• 5-Year Price Growth: 50%
Housing Inventory: Less than 7,000- low (Below pre-pandemic levels)
Property Tax Rate: 0.42
Average Insurance: $1,680

Median Rent: $1,895 (single-family house)
• YoY Rent Growth: 1%
• 5-Year Rent Growth: ???
Rent-to-Income Ratio: 29% 
Rent-to-Price Ratio: 0.48 

Looking at single family and possibly duplexes. Would like multi-family (3-4 units) but not many in this locale. As I expected this is a very different market than where I live (in NY). I feel pretty good about this market as the market data shows it being solid. I am even more comfortable having several family members in the area which I visited annually throughout my childhood/adolescents and every couple years now as an adult. This gives me some boots on the ground. I don't want to perseverate too much and allow analysis paralysis to prevent me from jumping in. Having family there and a pretty good market, time to pull the trigger. 

Comments? Thoughts? Any tips or advice welcome. Thanks!