Investor · Palmetto, GA · Member since 2014 · 190 posts · 77 votes
I need advice on a small rural city deal. I recently got a house under contract about 1 hour south of Atlanta in zip 30187. The house is listed on Zillow, Trulia, RedFin, and Realtor.com as a 3/2 - 2,418 sqft. with 1.5 acres. The average ARV price is about 120k using the information from those sites. But 5 years ago they added 2 more beds and a bathroom making the total square footage 3,460, which is NOT reflected on these sites. All comps are within 3 months, they are | 2,256 sqft - sold for $321,000 - 2,450 sqft - sold for $260,000 | 2044 sqft - sold for $254,000. The average per square footage using these numbers is $124. Using these numbers would put this house at $430k. Is there some type of adjustment for rural areas? It's next to the police station, the schools are good, and its right downtown.
Rental Property Investor · Broken Arrow, OK · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
9y
I buy a lot in rural areas, and can tell you it's very hard to get accurate comps. You may have two homes side by side the same size but one sells for $100K and one for $200K. Also, have you went to the property? Adding on isn't always good, I've seen some crazy things in rural areas where they have less regulations on permits, etc. If you're trying to wholesale in rural areas, it can be done but can take a lot longer to move properties. Good luck.
Investor · Palmetto, GA · Member since 2014 · 190 posts · 77 votes
9y
@Jeff Filali Hey Jeff, yes I went to the property to take pictures, I took measurements of the additions and made video. I am checking about 10 other houses to see what their approximate worth is and then averaging the square footage just to get a general understanding of pricing in the area. There is a lake down their with higher prices, but since my property is not on the lake I don't use those. It gets higher in the direction leading to the lake of course.
I buy a lot in rural areas, and can tell you it's very hard to get accurate comps. You may have two homes side by side the same size but one sells for $100K and one for $200K. Also, have you went to the property? Adding on isn't always good, I've seen some crazy things in rural areas where they have less regulations on permits, etc. If you're trying to wholesale in rural areas, it can be done but can take a lot longer to move properties. Good luck.
So what do you do....do you have a personal system to get accurate numbers?