Hello BP community I wanted to ask for some tips on how to properly understanding and analyze your market. What are some key things to look for and consider when determining if your market is ideal for buying real estate or not. Looking forward to your comments!

@Brandon Lewis if you are flipping I would look time on market, crime, school ratings, which neighborhoods are desired over others, the median price of homes, the price of homes in certain neighborhoods you are looking at, population growth, the top employers and how their business is doing, any city projects planned to boost growth, any large private projects.

Good points @Sean Carroll . To add to that, a quick way is to look at what has been selling in the past 3-6 months in a given area. Are the sold prices going up for comparable properties? Going down? How long are they "on the market"?

It's also important to stay up with your area's job market as well. Is there a big company moving their headquarters to your area? Is there a factory being put outside of town? Many of these can have big impacts on home values and can tell you what types of homes to invest in. For example, will these jobs include primarily young families looking for a starter home with the white picket fence, or will they be made up of fresh out of college renters? This and other info like new housing developments going up can help you keep your finger on the pulse of where the market is and where it's going.

Sean Carroll I appreciate your suggestions and I will definitely be considering them when looking for deals, thanks for the advice!

@Will Man, I appreciate the advice and suggestions I will definitely consider them when looking for real estate deals, it helps narrow my criteria down for properties, thanks again!

@Brandon Lewis

For investment properties I look for several key indicators

- Local businesses/restaurants/shopping centers near by

- Easy access to public transportation

- Proximity to local schools and the quality of those schools

- Investment in the area (is the area being built up/commercialized?)

- Inventory of homes on the market in an area (this may help determine if it is a buyer or a sellers market)

@Christopher Finn Thats very good indicators for finding good investment properties in prospect markets. I appreciate you sharing that advice.