All Forum Posts by: Allison R.

@Allison R. 

As you're discovering, most folks give biased opinion.  They either live in that state or have something to sale.  

Before someone gives an opinion, I would insist on discovering the fundamentals.  What are job growth and population growth projections?  What's the current unemployment rate and how does it fare with national average?  What is the vacancy rate?  What percentage of folks rent vs. buy?  What is the median house price?  What is the ratio of average rental income to house price.

I began asking the same questions you are asking about 4 months ago, but a bit disappointed regarding the lack of impartial advise.  Folks who have something to sell should make a disclaimer and then continue sharing their opinion.  There are ton of other investors who have nothing to sell and simply sharing their experience, and those opinions I value and appreciate the most.

You may find the attached article from Forbes on where you invest interesting and informative. 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erincarlyle/2015/01/09...

Of course most people talk about there areas that they invest in so I will mention the two areas that I invest in. 

1. Atlanta-- is great for flipping or mainly new construction in what we refer to "Inside the Perimeter".  This market will be VERY strong for years to come as all of downtown ATL is going through major revitalization. The growth has to do with people moving into the city and the crazy amount of jobs and even new industries moving into ATL. Such as how they are building ATL to become the new Eastcoast Hollywood in the movie industry. 

Rentals in this area are still there but only IMO I am with @Ali Boone that that market is a little over saturated with SFH rentals but also condos are going up all thourhgout ATL by the thousands.

2. Chicago-- Is a great area for quick turn flips. We buy for around 50k rehab for around 40k sale for around 135k. You can do these in 4 to 6 months easy. 

As far as rental area, I go right outside Chicago to NWI where I can buy (in that area) 

A Class Rentals for 60k rehab for 20k Legit ARV 110k rent is 1,000 to 1,200

B Class Rentals for 40k rehab for 20k Legit ARV 90k rent is 900 to 1,000

C Class Rentals for 25k rehab for 15k ARV 60k (only other investor will buy NOT RETAIL)

      rent is around 800

D Class Rentals for 10k rehab for 20k ARV 40k (only other investors will buy NOT RETAIL)

    rent is 650 to 800

As many others mentioned, MIDWEST is a buy and hold for rentals you should NOT expect any great Appreciation but also not any negative appreciation either. The other reason that I love IN are all the landlord laws are in my favor, eviction 2 weeks, no appliances required, state cap on property tax of 2%, right outside MAJOR city of Chicago. 

Saying, all this neither area if for everyone but those are really good areas that I love to invest in. 

Good Luck!

Andrew

Texas is growing in jobs, population, and transportation. However some parts pay high taxes. Pheonix I heard is turning around. St. Louis was comming up and has nice parts but with the recent riots certain parts of the city might not be too desirable at the moment. Nebraska don't know anything about. There are at least 19 real estate strategies. I think its about applying the right strategy to the market you want and one that you are comfortable in using. Next time you visit family take 2-3 hours and go to the local REIA in those cities and network with the locals experts you meet there. Go to sites like http://www.greatschools.com, http://www.crimemapping.com, http://www.uscensusbeauru, http://www.cityrating.com

Many turnkey companies operate in the most saturated rental markets. If your area is still over saturated in 2015 it is likely that will continue being over saturated. The most in demand locations in those markets are not likely to be offered by TK sellers. 

If I was advising buy and hold investors I would say avoid over saturated rental areas. The difference in long term buy and hold returns vs the more in demand areas could be astronomical. 

Timing luck recently saved many new investors and now that is mostly played out the real intrinsic value of your exact location is what is going to determine your long run investments returns. 

You can look up average vacancy duration and tenant duration for hoods and zips before hand if you are curious. I have yet to see those very important stats listed on investor sites. 

I'm currently working on putting together an Excel file comprised of U.S. Census data, along with BLS statistics to try to help analyze and answer this very question for myself.

LOTS of data points to consider!  I'll upload the file when I have it completed with all of what I consider to be relevant information, as well as my first take on an answer to the question for feedback and consideration.  Started work on Friday, so should have the file completed in the next couple of days.

Both data sets I'm working with are by county.  Census data has things like number of housing units, persons per household, education level attained, etc.  From the BLS, I can see unemployment rate, as well as number of businesses, and if number of employed persons by month, up through June 2014.  I'm attempting to correlate these data points to see if I can use it to spot areas that might be hot or moving toward hot for investment.