Unless you are going to live there (which you are not, since it’s an investment property), it does not matter whether YOU would want to live there. What matters is, can you find tenants that will meet your qualifications, and will pay the rent on time, that want to live in the neighborhood and can afford the rent you plan to charge. If you don’t know, ask around. You should be able to figure out what are desirable rental areas and what aren’t. Lots of older blue-collar quasi-suburban areas are highly desirable rental areas because they are better than the inner city.
It sounds to me like you’re not too comfortable with your knowledge of the local market. My advice is, get out in the streets and talk to people who ARE knowledgable, and thereby learn what you need to learn.
Posted by Joel David on March 13, 2001 at 15:51:48:
Hello -
I have a question on neighborhoods - that seems to be my big sticking point lately, around here like everywhere else lately property values in the “good” neighborhoods have shot up so high that finding a good deal has been difficult.
However in the areas that I would consider moderate, ie not the core but not the exclusive suburbs, I guess more like the suburbs with in the city limits if that is possible, there seem to be a lot of people who are “motivated sellers” and willing to “look at all offers”. If an area consistently has people who are motivated to sell duplexes and other investment property, is this a good sign for buyers or a sign that investors are looking to get out en masse and that the market in that area will be going in the crapper shortly. Carlton and the others say look for motivated sellers but when I see that many in neighborhoods I would live in but would not want to live forever in I get a little nervous. BTW in the new census it showed that the population in Milwaukee County has decreased a large percentage from the last census, if that makes any difference.