Avondale, AZ · Member since 2018 · 31 posts · 10 votes
Hello BP family! I am looking for advice on how you got to know the ins and outs of the market you invest in. I live in Avondale, AZ and am interested in studying markets like Avondale or Goodyear (a 15 min drive away from the growing areas surrounding our Cardinals stadium). I could even make a 45 min drive to Scottsdale or Mesa (more popular markets to invest in it seems). I am born and raised in AZ, so I know the bars, restaurants, and things to do in these areas. I feel i not really know the economics I would say. Like rents, job growth, population growth. Any help is appreciated. Thank you!
This had better not be casting pearls before swine, Gabriel. I hope you're paying attention.
The first thing I looked for was an area that was sufficiently complicated to make it worth my while. And it took some time. Others from this area will confirm, Pittsburgh is full of working-class neighborhoods that change radically on a street-by-street basis. The area that I picked to invest in is one of the most extreme cases of this. This is where a local investor can find deals that out-of-area people can't. I was also looking for pocket neighborhoods where, for various reasons, D-areas became C-areas, because once again, this is where the local handyman investor should be to maximize his advantages.
1. Pick a mature urban or near-city suburban area that is complicated, where neighborhoods vary significantly street-by-street.
2. Look for borderlines, where the ghetto morphs into a comparatively nice street of houses, and figure out what anchors that area. It may be a hospital nearby. It may be a police station or school that keeps people in place. Sometimes, it's a church whose members refused to leave while the area deteriorated around them. It may just be simple lines on a district map -- this is where one school's influx area ends and another begins.
3. Go over the same areas again and again, at different times of the day. Remember, you're walking through C/D areas doing this -- it can get weird when you turn down the wrong street in the middle of the night.
4. Look for your target style of house and make note of the addresses. I've talked about this before on BP, but as a handyman investor looking for places I can maintain largely alone, I'm always on the lookout for brick-veneer post-WWII-built 2-bedroom/1bath SFR, side-by-side duplexes, or row houses with simple, low, easily-maintainable roofs. That's where I can maximize my advantages.
And there it is, a basic blueprint to the bucks for the broke investor looking for a low-cost way into the game, and you didn't even have to buy me a gyro, let alone a McRib. Good luck, Gabriel!
Specialist · Southwestern Ohio · Member since 2018 · 21 posts · 11 votes
8y
You have to get market data and know how to use it to stratify the market. I know people who teach the stuff but can't tell you about them here without breaking BP rules.
Google "(City State) Economy/population growth/real estate/ etc." and read the first couple pages of news articles.
Within no time you'll be way up to speed on what's going on.
Set news alerts for those terms, and for the Phoenix metro area in general since it's all so closely related, and within a month or two you'll be a walking encyclopedia of facts, figures and trends.
Guy with Great Hair · Austin, TX · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 4k+ votes
8y
@Gabriel Lamb
Zillow
Realtor.com
Trulia
Hubzu
Auction.com
No one is hiding homes for sale. These sites will also allow you to research sold prices as well.
I designate an area (can be as small as 1 square mile...a micro-market).
I establish the range of sq ftg I will be using (i.e...1000 - 2500 sq ft), then the software groups the comps (all three sets of data use the same sq ft ranges) in sq ft ranges. Each range has a high and low within 20% of each end.
I list the comps for the 3 sets of data within the last (# of days depends on if I'm looking for a market, found a market, or using the market analysis to analyze a particular property in that market).
Software then goes through a series of data groupings to analyze for:
1 - Profitability based on my budget in the Sold Comps
2 - Property availability based on my budget in the 4Sale Comps 3 - Cash Flow potential based on my budget in the rental comps
Handyman · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes
8y
I got my fat Greek a$$ out to my target areas and walked holes into my shoes again and again. I also mastered the county real estate deeds and mortgage recording system, the online county court records, the marriage license bureau records, federal census and SNAP data. Because my target area has a long history, I've read two local books about it. But the holes in the shoes were still the best way to gather the data I continue to rely on as a local investor in a complicated area of my town.
Rental Property Investor · Erie, PA · Member since 2018 · 6k+ posts · 9k+ votes
8y
Drive the streets in the day you’ll see if it’s a working blue collar area real quick . You can study charts pie graphs and statistics ..but nothing beats snooping around the area in your car or in foot . Look at the cars people drive look if they are hanging out in the day or if it’s a ghost town .
This had better not be casting pearls before swine, Gabriel. I hope you're paying attention.
The first thing I looked for was an area that was sufficiently complicated to make it worth my while. And it took some time. Others from this area will confirm, Pittsburgh is full of working-class neighborhoods that change radically on a street-by-street basis. The area that I picked to invest in is one of the most extreme cases of this. This is where a local investor can find deals that out-of-area people can't. I was also looking for pocket neighborhoods where, for various reasons, D-areas became C-areas, because once again, this is where the local handyman investor should be to maximize his advantages.
1. Pick a mature urban or near-city suburban area that is complicated, where neighborhoods vary significantly street-by-street.
2. Look for borderlines, where the ghetto morphs into a comparatively nice street of houses, and figure out what anchors that area. It may be a hospital nearby. It may be a police station or school that keeps people in place. Sometimes, it's a church whose members refused to leave while the area deteriorated around them. It may just be simple lines on a district map -- this is where one school's influx area ends and another begins.
3. Go over the same areas again and again, at different times of the day. Remember, you're walking through C/D areas doing this -- it can get weird when you turn down the wrong street in the middle of the night.
4. Look for your target style of house and make note of the addresses. I've talked about this before on BP, but as a handyman investor looking for places I can maintain largely alone, I'm always on the lookout for brick-veneer post-WWII-built 2-bedroom/1bath SFR, side-by-side duplexes, or row houses with simple, low, easily-maintainable roofs. That's where I can maximize my advantages.
And there it is, a basic blueprint to the bucks for the broke investor looking for a low-cost way into the game, and you didn't even have to buy me a gyro, let alone a McRib. Good luck, Gabriel!
Realtor · Tempe, AZ · Member since 2017 · 541 posts · 442 votes
8y
Offer on 3-5 properties a day, analyze 5-10, track every property, find out where it closed, call and talk to the cash buyers who purchased in an LLC and see what they thought rehab was and what they would sell it for after rehab, figure out from agents what kind of feedback they're getting, set up hot zone searches on the MLS for different $/square foot, etc
Investor · Winterville, NC · Member since 2015 · 47 posts · 93 votes
8y
Talk to the best property manager in town. Mine gave me a list of 1000+ properties they manage, what it rents for and true market rents. You will find that some owners are under market value due to rising rents and laziness. I myself took the my eye off the ball till last year.
Real Estate Agent · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2014 · 130 posts · 53 votes
8y
Following deals from beginning to end is something that helps me a ton. I create a spreadsheet of properties I think are good deals and sometimes we offer on them sometimes we don't...but whenever the properties do sell then I save them and when they get flipped and relisted then I get an email alert. This is a good way to see if properties are flipping successfully in certain areas. It's also a way to see how fast distressed properties sell in certain areas and how long properties sit in certain areas after they are remodeled.
Another thing I like to do because I'm very visual is go to Redfin and look on the map for homes for sale, pending, and sold in certain areas...and study it for a while. If you see a house listed that seems to be an outlier, try to figure out why. Lots of times you can find hot spots or up-and-coming areas by doing this. I
Charlotte, NC · Member since 2016 · 82 posts · 41 votes
8y
@Gabriel Lamb I'm learning to do the same thing. From what I've read it's crucial to look at MANY properties. The more you look at the more you learn what real value is and what real deals are.
Avondale, AZ · Member since 2018 · 31 posts · 10 votes
8y
@Josh Lyons It's encouraging to hear someone else is in the same boat. Yes, my hope is to know my market properties so well that I can begin to analyze a property in a minute or two. Thank you Josh! Good luck
Avondale, AZ · Member since 2018 · 31 posts · 10 votes
8y
@James Mabe That's a great idea. When you approached the property manager james, how did ask for a list of their properties with the purpose of analyzing the market ? Or did you already have properties that were being managed by them?
Avondale, AZ · Member since 2018 · 31 posts · 10 votes
8y
@Jim K. Those were great tips Jim! I know your time and knowledge is valuable. You just gave me valuable insight that I will use to analyze my markets and start my rei journey. Another prime example of why BP is such an amazing community. Thank you!
Rental Property Investor · Columbia, SC · Member since 2010 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
8y
@Gabriel Lamb I've picked two zip codes that I do my student rentals in. And I've tried to learn everything I possibly can about them. I go on Zillow multiple times a day to look at recent sales, listings, rental pricing, etc.
Most of the successful investors I know subscribe to the "inch wide, mile deep" theory. Find a niche and then stick with it.