Hey I’m new to investing!!! Glad to meet all of you! I’m pretty cautious about making the first move here. I have a mentor that is helping me a little bit. He told me to select a location. One that has low unemployment but high price change, and foreclosure rates. I’m a little concerned about this. He told me to pick a place any where in the U.S. and we would go from there. Any good ideas on how to select a city?? You see all the articles about the cities with low unemployment but then you gotta ask yourself? Do people want to move there? If its not very big then how are properties gonna sell? I have so many questions in my head and I would appreciate some advice! Thanks
If I were you, I would look first in an area 1 hour or less from your home. There are too many things that can go wrong for you not to be able to see and walk the property.
Furnishedowner
Look at the area within 1 hour radius from the district. Because people won’t live in the business district itself since the rent would really be higher. Settle for the cheaper ones.
I agree with the one hour suggestion. I am currently looking at properties in two towns about 30 minutes apart. Both are very unique because while they are very close, they are in two different counties and both actually have similiar but yet different “enforcement” rules. I even have it broken down into boroughs which have their own rules. It’s amazing.
My point is this, this little insights actually allowed me to weed out the neighborhoods that do not meet my criteria and set up a budget accordingly to that neighborhood.
As far as a city goes, keep in mind what industry supports that city. For example, L.A. is mostly Hollywood and Import/Exports with other industries in the mix. Denver is more of a tech industry city, NYC, more or less financial and fashion? If a city is dependent on a cyclical industry, prepare for some rental issues.
Its a good suggestion from you!..
Came across this article over at the National REIA site and thought about this thread. Apparently, there’s a survey that keeps track of the best and worst 10 markets. It is a good read, a way to stay up to date on locations all over the country. I subscribed to their RSS feed and it was plenty of information there.
http://www.nationalreia.com/10-best-and-worst-markets-for-real-estate-investors/