All Forum Posts by: John Primm

Hi @Sarah Hylander, The best resource I've found is Zillow data. https://www.zillow.com/researc...  Under the "Home Values Forecast" section you can download an excel sheet with Zillow's 1-year appreciation projections. You can filter the spreadsheet by state, city, or even zip code. I have found this to be a helpful tool when comparing different areas.

As Greg alluded to, I would take this data with a grain of salt as I am sure they just use an algorithm to create the forecasts. I would also use other metrics such as jobs and population growth to help with your decision.

Best of luck with your first STR! We have a couple LTR's and are looking to purchase our first STR soon as well.

@Ricky Priester I am also in Charleston and just purchased my first investment property back in March. We found a no hoa townhouse off market through a family contact. Purchase price was 150K and we inherited a month-to-month tenant who was paying 1225/mo. - so we did not meet the 1% rule when we purchased.

However, the inherited tenant gave us their notice and moved out at the end of last month. We were able to find another tenant who is signing a lease this weekend for 1500/mo. - so we will now be meeting the 1% rule. We are finding out that the rent rates are also going up dramatically right now.

Probably more importantly, we have been cash flowing on the property so far. I don't know how much this helps, but I wanted to share my experience since I was in a similar situation. We are keeping our eyes open for a second property now!

@Walter Parker Hi Walter, we used Allan with Accu-Check for our primary home and investment property (townhome) and were happy with both inspections. Both in the Charleston area.

Allan Bennett

Accu-Check Home Inspection

http://aaccucheck.com

@Steve S. We do the same thing @Julie Hartman mentioned. We change the air filters and spray for bugs ourselves every 3 months. This gives us an excuse to come into the unit and make a quick inspection at the same time.