886: How to Choose a Real Estate Investing Market (Step-by-Step)

Before you buy your first rental property, you’ll need to choose a real estate market. If you’re like many Americans, your own backyard may not offer what you want out of an investing area. So, where do you go to find cash flow or appreciation? Today, we’re walking you through choosing a real estate investing market, the metrics to look for, signs of growth and decline, and which markets offer investors the biggest benefits. How hard is it to do market research? If you have access to the internet, you can research a market in a matter of minutes. But knowing WHAT to research is the most crucial part. Dave Meyer, VP of Market Intelligence at BiggerPockets and host of the On the Market podcast, shares his steps to market analysis and how he analyzes each market to ensure it’ll make him the most money in the long run. We’ll touch on population and migration, supply and demand, vacancy rates, rent-to-price ratios, landlord vs. tenant-friendly states, and the telltale signs that a market will have high or low cash flow. So before you buy your first or next rental property, make sure you do THIS research! In This Episode We Cover: How to choose a real estate market in 2024 (market analysis 101) The market “fundamentals” that show whether an area is worth investing in Vacancy rates and signs that you’ll have a HARD time finding tenants  The 1% rule and whether or not we’d still use it in 2024 Cash flow vs. appreciation markets and who should NOT be chasing cash flow Tenant vs. landlord-friendly states and how to quickly tell which is which And So Much More! Links from the Show Find an Agent Find a Lender BiggerPockets Youtube Channel BiggerPockets Forums BiggerPockets Pro Membership BiggerPockets Bookstore BiggerPockets Bootcamps BiggerPockets Podcast BiggerPockets Merch Listen to All Your Favorite BiggerPockets Podcasts in One Place Learn About Real Estate, The Housing Market, and Money Management with The BiggerPockets Podcasts Get More Deals Done with The BiggerPockets Investing Tools Find a BiggerPockets Real Estate Meetup in Your Area Expand Your Investing Knowledge With the BiggerPockets Books Be a Guest on the BiggerPockets Podcast Ask David Your Question Dave's BiggerPockets Profile Dave's Instagram David's BiggerPockets Profile David's Instagram Henry's BiggerPockets Profile Henry's Instagram Grab the “Picking a Market Worksheet” Catch Dave and Henry on the “On the Market” Podcast Census Reporter ChatGPT FRED Books Mentioned in the Show: Long-Distance Real Estate Investing by David Greene Start with Strategy by Dave Meyer Click here to listen to the full episode: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/real-estate-886 Interested in learning more about today’s sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Email [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices