Hi, I'm looking at potential buying a small cottage on a small lake in Michigan (Baldwin/ Twin Lakes ect...) or doing rental property in a small university town (Big Rapids, MI). I don't know how to do market research to find out which would be best for my area.
Rental Property Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2016 · 172 posts · 122 votes
7y
@Stephanie Jaquish Hi Stephanie! First you need to look at your basic numbers. How much is the small cottage? How much is the rental rate? What are the property taxes? Etc.
Biggerpockets has an excellent rental calculator that can help put some of these questions into better context. Compare multiple properties in the area.
Investor · Forest Hills, NY · Member since 2014 · 101 posts · 52 votes
7y
For STR, you can check Airdna.co or mashvisor to see how much revenue it can generate. You can also check out similar properties and see what they're charging and how booked they are.
With the long term rental property, you can check rentometer.com or Zillow rental estimate to estimate how much rent you could potentially get. You can also contact a property manager to get their assessment as to rental demand and rental rate.
The college town would probably be a long term rental. Don't know how much demand there'd be for a STR there. My other concern would be that college students may not take summer class and go back home for the summer.