Should I buy small multifamily in rural development area??

[Josh Silvester]

Hi everyone! I am currently under contract for a duplex in a rural area marked for development.

There are 2-3 huge commercial real estate properties being built within the next couple of years (currently under construction). This property is 5 minutes away from a major university. I am very new to REI and would like to know if this is a great opportunity to buy in an up and coming area or if the residential properties will negatively impact my ability to rent out my other unit. Open to all advice, thanks so much!

[Jonathan Greene]

There isn't enough information in there to give you good advice one way or another. But from what you posted, being in the path of development, near a major U is a good thing. However, rural areas tend to have less multifamily properties (depending how rural) so that can give you an issue with finding comps for your purchase. I still like multifamily near apartments because they are generally different tenants. Multis feel more like a house and you have one person living with you (or 2 or 3 depending on duplex, trip, or quad), whereas an apartment complex has more amenities, but people sharing walls everywhere.