InvestorLoft Real Estate Investing Blog

Is it time to look for investment property beyond your own backyard?

The Wall Street Journal reported that July showed a 9.6% rise in new home sales, sealing the deal on a fourth month of a faster pace in the housing industry.

Is it cause for panic?

Have we missed the boat if we haven’t yet bought?

We don’t think so.

While business may be picking up across the residential real estate sector, there are plenty of deals to be had throughout the U.S. You just have to be willing to do the math and think beyond county or state lines.

If your own backyard is on the upswing and prices are picking up pace, why not consider shopping outside your local market? If there’s a rental property in a prime location with low vacancy rates (throw in turnkey to boot), does it make sense to keep dollars that could be working for you at bay because you can’t do a drive-by on your investment on a Saturday morning? For the do-it-yourself landlord, yes. Managing property yourself beyond state lines is, without a doubt, a task. But if you’re going to hire a property manager and prefer to leave the day-to-day to someone else, what does it really matter where you make your investment?

If you’re going to shop beyond your backyard for rental property or other investment property, here are some things to take into consideration:

• Property Management: for rental holdings beyond your backyard, it’s imperative. Why burden family with the task when you can keep the Thanksgiving table a friendly place to be by outsourcing to the pros?
• Vacancy Rates: do your research (and a property management firm can help greatly). Don’t get stuck with a great price on a property that will be vacant for 3 to 4 months out of the year.
• Know the Neighborhood: is it prone to floods? Hurricanes? Blizzards? What’s the average rent rate in the area for similar properties.
• Extra Expenses: don’t forget to ask about things like property taxes and HOAs.

Use InvestorLoft’s PropScout Investment Property Search Engine to begin the search beyond your backyard. What’s available in Fresno? Virginia Beach? Albuquerque? Las Vegas? Take a wider search for a spin and see what you might be missing.

Where to look for the best real estate deals

Real estate investors – looking for the best markets for new deals? FORTUNE online just published a comprehensive pictorial tour of their “best markets” for retirement homes – and InvestorLoft is right in line with their estimations. There are subtantial values to be found in each of the named markets, earning each a place on this list of 12 key cities to consider for the retiree – AND the real estate investor in search of investment property for their portfolios.

The article names Miami, San Diego, Las Vegas, Tampa and Denver as the top markets for this article, citing lowered home prices, quality of living and local amenities for each.

In a separate article, they identify Phoenix as a key location for picking up a “deal in the desert.”

If you’d like to take a quick search through InvestorLoft’s available properties in each of the 6 markets listed in these two articles, just click on the links below and we’ll take you there in a jiffy:

Miami investment property

Tampa investment property

San Diego investment property

Las Vegas investment property

Denver investment property

Phoenix investment property

As a reminder, every property listed on InvestorLoft has been listed by a licensed real estate professional – no “fly by night” or under the table deals here. We make it simple to search for, identify and analyze investment property with just a few clicks of the mouse and firmly support the role of the real estate professional in every stage of the transaction.