Lebanon - Whitestown
Hello! I have been looking at sub-markets around the Indianapolis area (within 20 miles or so). I was hoping to get some insights into the Lebanon and Whitestown areas as far as the economics/demographics. They look like good B- to C range markets. Not too bad on crime rates.
Anyone out there that can help me out with a little more information?
Thank you
Keith Martin
Lebanon and Whitestown are both very good rental markets for us. I imagine that they will have retail value to for flips. Brownsburg (just south of Whitestown) is a great market as well.
I have an investor who purchased a couple of spec homes in Whitestown and is very happy with how that is working out. These were newly constructed homes and he was only breaking even the first year, but we were able to raise the rents the second year so he could actually cash flow. In 2 years he has nearly $85k more equity between both rentals (that's not including the $90k he put down) and will probably look at selling the retail in a couple of more years. He is probably looking at turning about 150% ROI over 5 years, virtually passive.
We have a few homes in Lebanon and they never stay vacant very long and the tenancies are a little higher than what we see in Indianapolis. Small towns outside the city are interesting. We do very well in Lebanon, Danville, Clayton, New Palestine, Fairland, Shelbyville, Fortville, and Ingalls. Franklin, IN has been a little soft for us. I think there might be to many rentals but not enough prospective tenants.
Try to look at the "Comprehensive Annual Financial Report" which is also often called "Comprehensive Plan".
Example:
http://www.whitestown.in.gov/vertical/sites/%7BB8BE8AC3-9DE8-4247-BCB0-1173F48CC7C3%7D/uploads/Whitestown_Comp_Plan_FINAL.pdf
@Jeff
@Jeff Keller Thank you, I will take a look!
@ross
@Ross Denman I appreciate the insight. My gut was telling me that but it is good to hear it from someone "on the ground". Thank you!
Something else to consider as well... Our PM company does not do vacation rentals (at least as of yet), but Lebanon specifically has said that they are very for short term rentals. Some of the larger suburban areas, Carmel and Zionsville specifically, are all but waging war on them. While I am not sure what Whitestown's stance is, but I bet the smaller towns that are a little further from Indy will be very open to AirBNB and other such services as it creates more traffic and tourism in their areas. I don't have direct experience with STR's but there are some people that are having considerable success and it may be worth exploring.