Huntsville Alabama Path of Progress
Lender · Milpitas, CA · Member since 2016 · 376 posts · 248 votes
Huntsville Alabama Path of Progress
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Madison, AL · Member since 2017 · 3 posts · 21 votes
8yAdded a large number of local places and their relevance to the map.
@Gorden Lopes Hey, that data center may indeed be headed into that area but I assure you that 100 jobs are not going to turn around that neighborhood, plus Toyota Mazda is so far away it is likely to have no bearing on it for this community versus other opportunities like the other nearby Toyota plant. The two largest problem areas in Huntsville proper are where Memorial Parkway and I-565 meet, and 35810. This is where the vast majority of SFH with lower class neighborhoods exist, and where you can find duplexes if you have your heart set on them, plenty of rehabs, Cummings Research park largely acts as the dividing line between this working class area and Madison where so many engineers live. That being said everyone here seems to be chiming in about the future as to what will happen but I would rather point towards the past.
Huntsville has never come out from under it's desegregation order the courts put onto it's school system, which it has tried to escape for decades. Why is this so difficult? It's being a victim of your own success, the downtown and 35810 areas are the old sections of town, but not historical like 5 points. Each section of the old building booms are there. Every time that a new school would be built you would have white flight away from the previous boom, leaving only African Americans in the old school zone, and then property prices and quality of life take a hit. To be blunt they can't build the schools fast enough to accommodate the desegregation order before the whites flee again. With that you should keep in mind that even though Huntsville does well (because it is so driven to expand geographically, it is actually the largest in the state by square mileage of city limits and only getting bigger and encircles Madison) that this does not mean your area will continue to. Literally every area before almost that was prosperous and the hot new thing before passes by rather quickly since there is such a continuous building of new neighborhoods outward that attract the higher incomes. I would give areas like Madison and South Huntsville a couple more decades tops, after that the interesting places will be like the riverside community of Triana.
Fun fact! Triana is the only majority black community in Madison County, and is also where the highest levels of the poison DDT were ever recorded in humans. This was because it was downstream from the Arsenal where they manufactured it, and the locals were a fishing village. I mention this because this area has never been through the boom and bust cycle, there are only a few hundred people living there, it is prime riverfront property, in comfortable commute distance to the Arsenal, and they send their kids to the good local school system, Madison, through an agreement between the municipalities. Some might argue they expect the most growth to go either North, West, or East but my bet would be to the South and Southwest after this cycle finishes up. Triana simply has the educational credentials, distance to employment, and the area is cheap, and though the Triana locals remember the crisis from 40-50 years ago, Huntsville residents do not.
A very, very vast majority people who live in Huntsville, are not from Huntsville originally, nor have deep familial ties here. I do, and that connection did real estate for 3 decades, and did well I add. Huntsville, is nowhere near a normal market, it is absolutely a fantastic one, and one that has been getting far more notice lately for large out of state REI's.
Some of those qualities have already been mentioned but to be blunt again the economy is not only driven by Government spending, but is also in continuous growth due to it. We haven't felt real pain from a recession since the 1970's when the Moon Mission finished up. That is the nature of the beast, it seems like it is perpetually expanding until the rug gets pulled out from under you. Same as anywhere but it's much more seldom and hits far harder when it occurs. This may be lessened now however, I base that off of the fact that Huntsville has diversified a bit now as not just a cog in the military industrial complex but also an industrial and tech center in it's own right, and just over the past year we had over 300% tech job growth.
The dynamic you have at play with the constantly shifting population is a strong reason why I advocate to people that while Madison is certainly doing well now, it only really started to do so with a combination of BRAC and the creation of their own well funded school system 2-3 decades ago. Lately what I've noticed is crime rates growing up as well in Madison, a lack of investment in expanding roads, a decision to build a costly stadium instead of addressing the cost of their breakneck pace of population growth. In Huntsville traffic is a breeze compared to any nearby major metro area, Atlanta, Memphis, Birmingham, Nashville, you name it. But in Madison that quality vanishes in rush hour, but of course this is true too for places like Harvest or Hazel Green as well.
Final weird note is the environment, Huntsville lies in the middle of what is known as Dixie Alley, the only place in the word with more tornadoes than Tornado Alley, the most recent example of what kind of extent it can be was in 2011 when the city was shut down for a week straight with no utilities. They seem to occur every decade or so, the previous really big ones being in 1989 and 1974. Beyond that Huntsville lies in what's called the Tennessee Valley, and in this area of it the Native Americans named it Death Valley due to springtime when the pollen gets trapped within it and coats absolutely everything, lakes turn yellow, and so do cars. People move here never having had allergies and develop them.
96 Replies
- Rental Property Investor · Madison, AL · Member since 2018 · 19 posts · 18 votes8yI have been living in and investing in the Huntsville area for the past 10 years. I focus my investments in the areas of Madison and Harvest. High cap rates, great demand, and great schools. If anyone wants to network or get insight into projects I’m working on feel free to email or text. I balance my portfolio between foreclosure flips and long term rentals.
- 8yGregory SchwartzBusiness MemberRental Property Investor · College Station, TX · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
Great post! This helps to reconfirm my decision to start making offers on small multifamily in what is clearly a promising town.
Schwartz Realty Group5118 Reviews - Lender · Huntsville, AL · Member since 2018 · 8 posts · 22 votes8y
Just shared this on another post but here is my thoughts on the path of progress and general overview of Huntsville being born here and now working here. Hope it helps!
I'd recommend staying away from 35810, but 35801,35802,35756,35741,35763, and 35806 would all be generally safe bets. https://www.zipmap.net/Alabama/Madison_County/Huntsville.htm
The path of progress is really from downtown due West toward Madison. 35816 is in that path, its a lower income neighbor hood now but in 5-10 years you are gonna see that turn around a good bit. I'd also probably recommend staying away from 35805, its lower income, pretty sketchy neighborhoods and dont see it turning around anytime soon even it looks likes its in the path of progress.
- Rental Property Investor · Fremont, CA · Member since 2016 · 300 posts · 222 votes8y
Thanks for the insight! I am curious why 35810 is not in the path given its proximity to the toyota plant and the Facebook data center.
- Madison, AL · Member since 2017 · 3 posts · 21 votes8y
Added a large number of local places and their relevance to the map.
@Gorden Lopes Hey, that data center may indeed be headed into that area but I assure you that 100 jobs are not going to turn around that neighborhood, plus Toyota Mazda is so far away it is likely to have no bearing on it for this community versus other opportunities like the other nearby Toyota plant. The two largest problem areas in Huntsville proper are where Memorial Parkway and I-565 meet, and 35810. This is where the vast majority of SFH with lower class neighborhoods exist, and where you can find duplexes if you have your heart set on them, plenty of rehabs, Cummings Research park largely acts as the dividing line between this working class area and Madison where so many engineers live. That being said everyone here seems to be chiming in about the future as to what will happen but I would rather point towards the past.
Huntsville has never come out from under it's desegregation order the courts put onto it's school system, which it has tried to escape for decades. Why is this so difficult? It's being a victim of your own success, the downtown and 35810 areas are the old sections of town, but not historical like 5 points. Each section of the old building booms are there. Every time that a new school would be built you would have white flight away from the previous boom, leaving only African Americans in the old school zone, and then property prices and quality of life take a hit. To be blunt they can't build the schools fast enough to accommodate the desegregation order before the whites flee again. With that you should keep in mind that even though Huntsville does well (because it is so driven to expand geographically, it is actually the largest in the state by square mileage of city limits and only getting bigger and encircles Madison) that this does not mean your area will continue to. Literally every area before almost that was prosperous and the hot new thing before passes by rather quickly since there is such a continuous building of new neighborhoods outward that attract the higher incomes. I would give areas like Madison and South Huntsville a couple more decades tops, after that the interesting places will be like the riverside community of Triana.
Fun fact! Triana is the only majority black community in Madison County, and is also where the highest levels of the poison DDT were ever recorded in humans. This was because it was downstream from the Arsenal where they manufactured it, and the locals were a fishing village. I mention this because this area has never been through the boom and bust cycle, there are only a few hundred people living there, it is prime riverfront property, in comfortable commute distance to the Arsenal, and they send their kids to the good local school system, Madison, through an agreement between the municipalities. Some might argue they expect the most growth to go either North, West, or East but my bet would be to the South and Southwest after this cycle finishes up. Triana simply has the educational credentials, distance to employment, and the area is cheap, and though the Triana locals remember the crisis from 40-50 years ago, Huntsville residents do not.
A very, very vast majority people who live in Huntsville, are not from Huntsville originally, nor have deep familial ties here. I do, and that connection did real estate for 3 decades, and did well I add. Huntsville, is nowhere near a normal market, it is absolutely a fantastic one, and one that has been getting far more notice lately for large out of state REI's.
Some of those qualities have already been mentioned but to be blunt again the economy is not only driven by Government spending, but is also in continuous growth due to it. We haven't felt real pain from a recession since the 1970's when the Moon Mission finished up. That is the nature of the beast, it seems like it is perpetually expanding until the rug gets pulled out from under you. Same as anywhere but it's much more seldom and hits far harder when it occurs. This may be lessened now however, I base that off of the fact that Huntsville has diversified a bit now as not just a cog in the military industrial complex but also an industrial and tech center in it's own right, and just over the past year we had over 300% tech job growth.
The dynamic you have at play with the constantly shifting population is a strong reason why I advocate to people that while Madison is certainly doing well now, it only really started to do so with a combination of BRAC and the creation of their own well funded school system 2-3 decades ago. Lately what I've noticed is crime rates growing up as well in Madison, a lack of investment in expanding roads, a decision to build a costly stadium instead of addressing the cost of their breakneck pace of population growth. In Huntsville traffic is a breeze compared to any nearby major metro area, Atlanta, Memphis, Birmingham, Nashville, you name it. But in Madison that quality vanishes in rush hour, but of course this is true too for places like Harvest or Hazel Green as well.
Final weird note is the environment, Huntsville lies in the middle of what is known as Dixie Alley, the only place in the word with more tornadoes than Tornado Alley, the most recent example of what kind of extent it can be was in 2011 when the city was shut down for a week straight with no utilities. They seem to occur every decade or so, the previous really big ones being in 1989 and 1974. Beyond that Huntsville lies in what's called the Tennessee Valley, and in this area of it the Native Americans named it Death Valley due to springtime when the pollen gets trapped within it and coats absolutely everything, lakes turn yellow, and so do cars. People move here never having had allergies and develop them.
- Oakland, CA · Member since 2016 · 104 posts · 47 votes8y
One of the greatest threads i've read on BP. Huntsville definitely has my attention.
- Napa, CA · Member since 2017 · 57 posts · 27 votes8y
Thank you @James Wacenske. That was an insightful write up that goes beyond the usual REI info. I will be in Huntsville next week. I'm curious to get the lay of the land.
@Mohammed Elzagha - do you have areas you prefer for flips vrs buy and holds? (I'm not considering flips.) You aren't the first to mention Harvest, which wasn't on my radar before. I plan to take a look at it next week when I'm out there.
- Madison, AL · Member since 2017 · 3 posts · 21 votes8y
@Tina Huffman
You are welcome! If you want to get some info from a local let me know!
- Rental Property Investor · Huntsville, AL · Member since 2018 · 11 posts · 7 votes8y
@Hamlin Caldwell I think we will have to disagree on the 35805 zip code. The area south of Governors and north of Bob Wallace is seeing some serious revitalization. There are $300k+ new builds going in left and right. The signs there say they are planning on building 120+ new houses and the they are all moving alongside pretty quickly. A lot of gentrification going on in this area with the proximity to downtown, the Lowe Mill, Campus 805, and Stovehouse developments going in, and with the high prices in 5 points, people are looking for the next best thing. Even the duplexes a little further south on Triana are getting scooped up quickly and renovated.
- Huntsville, AL · Member since 2018 · 579 posts · 864 votes8y
I will split the difference here - ha ha. As @James Lowery noted, there is opportunity in 35805 - however, as @Hamlin Caldwell alluded to, you absolutely have to know the area/neighborhoods. . .a house on one street in this zip could be a cash flow winner, where as the next street over house with the same square footage could be a disaster/cash flow negative. I would not recommend this zip whatsoever for out of town folks who don't know the city (unless they have folks on the ground here they trust without a shadow of a doubt).
- Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2014 · 33 posts · 6 votes8y
I am a newbie to investing in rental properties but being from Alabama originally, it has definitely peaked my interest as a possibility for a place to start. I live in Los Angeles and the market here is on fire! Prices are too high to cash flow positive with a 20% down payment. I would love to network with anyone locally here in the Los Angeles area who has any more info than was provided in this thread. Am a little gun shy but would love to start with one property to help me learn on a smaller scale.
- Member since 2018 · 18 posts · 5 votes7y
Looking into Huntsville myself now. Would love some OOS investor friendly agents and PM's!
- Real Estate Broker · East TN Loudon/Lenoir City/Tellico Village · Member since 2014 · 363 posts · 222 votes7y
I'm Rhonda Blue and am an avid Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge/Knoxville/Huntsville area investor plus Realtor. WE live and work in the area now after my husband retired from Blizzard Entertainment in CA after 15 years.
I also have rentals in Huntsville AL and LOVE LOVE the area. Was just there visiting family for Thanksgiving. @Carolyn Dietrich and @John White are my agents to go to when I'm in the Huntsville Area.
I'd be happy to assist you with any questions you may have! We are a family and I love helping other investors follow the dream to be self sufficient.
- Real Estate Agent · Inglewood, CA · Member since 2015 · 295 posts · 150 votes7y
@James Wacenske amoazing insight sir! I will definetely be reaching out to you.
- Rental Property Investor · Nashville, TN · Member since 2015 · 22 posts · 15 votes7y
Great thread/map. I just closed on 2 homes (one off market) a SFH in 38516 and one in 38510. Very happy with both purchases, great value/price. Excited to start rent-ready rehabs on Monday. Previously, I focused on the Nashville market but diminishing returns in the last 5 years has made me look to satellite markets. Huntsville seems like a great place to put together a portfolio. Thx again to all who contributed to this thread.
- Investor · Sumner, WA · Member since 2019 · 24 posts · 14 votes7y
Thanks for this thread. I had started looking at the Huntsville area over a year ago at the same time the Orlando, FL area. I purchased a property in Orlando and now looking at the Huntsville area. Any updates on folks in this threads purchases or observations while looking is appreciated. Would like to contact a good PM/buyers agent if there are any recommendations.
- Investor · Sumner, WA · Member since 2019 · 24 posts · 14 votes7y
@Edward Fedorovich thanks for the comment on the Nashville area. I occasionally lol there but seems like no good deal for ROI. I did buy a 4 acre piece of property outside of Dickson last year but plan on just holding onto that to build as a retirement project way down the road. But it gives me a reason to visit.
- Rental Property Investor · Member since 2018 · 32 posts · 18 votes7y
@Dustin Thoms I can't say enough good things about Patricia Cummings at Cummings Property Management in Huntsville. She is very active in our local REIA's and is passionate about protecting her clients' interests. If you are looking for a great PM, call her.
- Rental Property Investor · Huntsville AL Ardmore AL/TN · Member since 2017 · 27 posts · 24 votes7y
@Dustin Thoms There is so much to talk about in the Huntsville area! There are definitely areas that are growing more than others. I'd love to exchange ideas. I have an interest in the Clermont/Four Corners/Davenport area near Orlando.
- San Jose, CA · Member since 2018 · 76 posts · 13 votes6y
Hey Guys,
I would like to reach out to other investors who have shown interest in Huntsville area. Did you guys purchase anything? We are looking into buying something but there is no inventory. The houses for 50K-60K range in 35810 is being sold for 110K price range. Market is insane.
Pls share your experience if you bought anything in last few months. The only affordable zip code is 35810 where there is some cash flow. I am looking for investor savvy realtor in the area and property mgmt company. I am flying to HSV next week.
Keep in touch
V
- Rental Property Investor · Huntsville, AL · Member since 2015 · 401 posts · 309 votes6y
@Viral Patel we’ve been getting deals in 35810 and 35805. They don’t come from realtors though
- Rental Property Investor · Madison, AL · Member since 2018 · 60 posts · 33 votes6y
What type of properties are you looking for? Price point? Strategy - B&H, F&F?
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