how do you research a market?

[Nickolaus Cabcabin]

hi everyone, I'm a newbie investor and looking into investing out of state. what are some things you guys look into when researching the market? thanks, nickolaus Cabcabin

[Andrew Michael]

Your strategy will effect this to a degree. What qualifies as a good rental market will be different from a good fix and flip market. What are you looking to do. In any event, the following will be good metrics to look at.

- Jobs (growth, stability, etc)

- Schools

- Population growth or lackthereof

- Rent Rates

- Sales Prices

- New home sales/ build volume (market saturation)

- Crime

A good macro site is City-data.com but you will surely want to get feelers out into the local economy as well to determine the above. The best source is drive the streets, talk to residents and investors who already have a footprint in the area.