What data points do you like?

Question

BP community,

BP podcast episode #300 featured Tim Shiner (orig. episode #221), who mentioned using schooldigger.com to look for top school districts that influence where he invests. Other than the basic data points (avg. home prices, rental rates, etc.), what are some statistics that influence your decision making when searching for and evaluating investments?

New member,

David

Jeremy Taggart · Answer

Account Closed A big one for me is decreasing days on market. I've noticed a trend among neighborhoods that have revitalized, a common denominator among them is slow and steady decrease in DOM before the prices started to increase. Generally the DOM goes down well before the prices start to increase. This is for the micro of a particular market of course, not looking at markets broadly.

Also, not necessarily a data point but I like to look for areas where people are starting to renovate and flip homes. This is another sign of an emerging neighborhood.

Neel Jain · Answer

Account Closed - one of the things I have 'marinated' upon is, what is my answer to the questions, "will I be comfortable living there?" or, "will I recommend the place to friends and family even if it is temporary or if they were going through a rough patch?".   'Rough patch' part is for neighborhoods that could be a bit iffy.

Other than that, all the millennial stuff like whether there are new cafes, the kind of crowd that is hanging out, foot traffic, etc..but then depends also on type of property and neighborhood I am looking at - if it is an industrial-type city, then I'd look at Fire and Police Department numbers - their expenses should be consistent and low over the years indicating less drama.

Account Closed · Answer

@Jeremy Taggart That's interesting, sort of a leading indicator for an area's prices. Thanks for sharing!