What influences your decision most when choosing markets?

[Erik Pfundstein]

Hi All, Wondering what are the major factors that everyone considers when looking into different real estate markets? I live in Plymouth, MA. The towns can vary greatly in several demographics and statistics. I would like to see what people’s opinions are on what they look for in terms of broad picture of the markets. If anyone is familiar with massachusetts, the areas vary widely- cape cod, new bedford, taunton, south shore, and of course boston itself (out of my league d/t price) are all much different in price/rent ratio, schools, crime, etc... what are the things that matter most to you and influence your decisions when looking into different markets? My plan is buy/hold or brrrr investing, 3-4 family homes to start. My goal is cash flow, and increasing units over long term. Thanks in advance, looking forward to the insight. Erik

[Charlie MacPherson]

@Erik Pfundstein Hi Neighbor!  

When I represent a buyer on the retail side, the main factors are budget ($250K means Brockton, not Wellesley), commuting options (highways, commuter rail, commuter boat), Schools (refer to www.GreatSchools.org) and crime (I use Trulia's crime heat maps).

For investors, it's a lot more about where the investor wants to be.  There are probably some great deals in far western MA, but if you don't want to be a 3.5 hour drive away from your investments, it's not going to work.  

Next, it's budgets for the same reasons as above.  The other factors above will also effect your resale value.  The same holds true for buy & hold investors.  More desirable towns will fetch higher rents.

If money were no object, I'd probably do my flips in Brookline, Cambridge, Beacon Hill, Newton, Wellesley, Weston and Dover.  But seeing as how money IS an object, I did my first flip in Rockland and have another under contract in Halifax.