To me, the numbers don't lie. Use statistics and analyze the places you think you may want to invest in. Personally, I use bestplaces.net. I live and invest in San Antonio, so here are some key indicators I use and you can search by area, city or even neighborhood. Using this website, look for the following indicators:
- On the landing page, look at the Median Home Price - This is where you want to be for the MAX ARV
- On the landing page, look at the population - is it increasing or decreasing?
- On the left side of the page, under categories, you can look at the Cost of Living and compare the city to state and the national average. For example, San Antonio has an average Median Home Sales Price of $174k compared to Texas as a state at $193k and the National Home Sales Price of $219. This tells you that San Antonio is less expensive than most states and within the state itself
- Under the same left tab, you will see Job Market. You will want to look at Unemployment Rate and compare it to the National Average and make sure it is BELOW it. In addition, you will want to make sure you look at the Future Job Growth and make sure it is ABOVE the National Average. This will be key indicators about the jobs, which is important with how the City will do for current and future work.
- Under Housing Stats, you will want to look at Home Appreciation in the last 12 months and 5 years and compare that to the National Average. In addition, you can look at the appreciation in the last 10 years to see how the last recession impacted the area. San Antonio was not hit very hard as the appreciation is 44% vs the National Average is 28%. You will also want to look at Homes Owned vs Homes Vacant. You can scroll down on Homes Vacant and it will break that number down. Pay attention to Homes Rented and it will tell you if it is a good cash flow area if it is above the National Average. It also lets you know about the average rents based on bedrooms.
Hope this helps!
Arissa
