Categories to compare cities to invest in

Multi-Family and Apartment Investing
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Categories to compare cities to invest in

Keisha D Dobney-Boykin
Rental Property Investor · Fort Mill, SC · Member since 2021 · 22 posts · 12 votes

Hello everyone, I'm not holding myself to any specific area to invest since my W-2 job moves me around the country.

Not sure if this matters but my goal is to own apartments. I have a list of cities on spreadsheet but I'm not sure if I'm thinking creatively in what categories I'm using to compare.

So far I have the following:

A. Crime rates

B. Schools

C. Income levels

D. Employment

E. Overall growth of the city

(This seems to short)

I know I need to look at this from the perspective of an investor and I'm think I'm off track. I feel like I'm looking at this for my personal home.

Any advice is helpful, thanks.

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Jeffrey Donis
Investor · Durham, NC · Member since 2020 · 1k+ posts · 691 votes
5y
  • Some things we look for when picking markets:
  • 1. Population over 200,000
  • 2. Long-term population growth of at least 50% of the national average (preferably more)
  • 3. Diverse economy
  • 4. Labor participation rate at or above national average
  • 5. High relative cap rates
  • 6. Pro-business, pro-landlord climate
  • 7. Limited risk from climate change
  • 8. Close enough to home for you to oversee easily (one-day round-trip preferred)
  • 9. “Anchor” is a bonus – not necessary, but great to have. Avoid bad anchors, though
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  • Ryan Hogan
    Investor · Asheville, NC · Member since 2019 · 19 posts · 41 votes
    5y

    1-hour video, all free data resources you can find online  google "How to Analyze a Real Estate Market in 60 Minutes - Know More than a Local Expert - Neal Bawa"

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  • Jeffrey Donis
    Investor · Durham, NC · Member since 2020 · 1k+ posts · 691 votes
    5y
    Originally posted by @Keisha D Dobney-Boykin:

    @Jeffrey Donis YES! Thanks

     Of course!

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  • Todd Dexheimer
    Rental Property Investor · St. Paul, MN · Member since 2016 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    5y

    On big item that I feel people aren't considering and should be is the rent affordability. If you are investing in a market with growing rents and they are forcing tenants to spend their entire check on rent, that will be a bursting bubble eventually. We look for markets that max out at 25% rent to income. 

    We also want to see renting as a more affordable alternative than buying. 

    Here is my full criteria: https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

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