Market Report needed

[Kelly Ovard]

Hi, I'm new to investing and looking to invest in an area out of state because I live in an inflated market- Where is the best place for me to get market reports?

[Art Perkitny]

@Kelly Ovard

I would recommend taking a look at the American Community Survey, also known as the annual Census. 

This info will give you a decent idea of what to expect and help filter down your search to a few cities.

Some of the metrics that the survey provides and that I find valuable to understand are:

- Population

- Home Values

- Household Incomes

- Rental Vacancy Rate

- Homeowner Vacancy Rate

- Poverty Rate

- Educational Attainment Rate (High School/GED & Bachelors)

- Number of Housing Unit

- Rent to Income Ratio

- Rent to Price Ratio

- Population on SNAPS (supplemental nutrition assistance program) percentage

- Property Tax Rate

- Median Age of Buildings

- Number of Structures by Units (SFR, Duplex, Triplex, Quadplex, etc...)

- Median Rents by Number of Bedrooms

- Unemployment Rate

- Employment Sectors Percentages

These are just some of the indicators that will help you understand the quality of an area as well as the kinds of returns one is to except.

Also take into consideration the direction in which each of these market indicators are trending. This will better help you get an understanding of not just where market is today, but also where it may be heading.

Once you have selected a few cities that meet your criteria, it's then time to dive deeper into researching the sub-markets that comprise each of them.

The sub-market selection will have more of an impact on price as well as investment performance than the city itself.

If this is your first investment, I don't suggest trying to find the highest cash flowing property however. The reason being that this will likely be in a D/F neighborhood, which will expose you to more risk than needed when starting out.

I will also leave you with a link to a spreadsheet listing all the markets in the country with over 100k population.

It lists median home values, median rents, and the 5 year CAGR for population.

Link to Cities Comparison Spreadsheet

Hope this helps!