Updated about 1 month ago on . Most recent reply
Looking for tips on how to identify viable markets
I’ve been a wannabe real estate investor for most of my life, but am just now at a point where I’m able to pull the trigger on that goal. Like many other Californians, I’m not in a position to invest locally. So, my best bet is to invest out-of-state. I’m looking for some tips and guidelines on how to research and identify out-of-state markets. Those of you that have been doing this for a while all seem to have your buy box. What I would like to know is your story behind how you identified that market. How did you get started? What resources did you use for your research? How long did you search before you zeroed in on your market? Did you run into any red flags and have to abandon a market you were researching? Any guidance on how to actually get started is appreciated.
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Hey @Paul Graebner, I was in the same boat when I started investing in 2019 living in NYC. I had to look an hour outside the city to find anything that cash flowed.
The first few decisions I had to make were deciding my budget (property value and how much I'd put down) and the type of property. I then got on Zillow and filtered for properties that fit my criteria, ultimately narrowing it down to a few markets in Northern Jersey that were close enough that I could make a trip out there if needed, but far enough from the city to actually cash flow. Some other tools I used were rentometer to get a sense of market rent, and neighborhood scout to get an idea of crime rates. And of course bigger pockets forums and even reddit to see what people were saying about certain areas.
If you're still trying to nail down a market, what could be helpful is a tool I built called Tenantry AI for exactly this purpose, to discover and compare housing markets (metros/counties/zip codes) across 50 different metrics such as affordability, inventory, and demographics. Hope this helps!
