Which are the top 10 cities for owning investment properties in the US housing market?
If you’re considering purchasing investment properties in the US housing market, then your first step should be to identify the cities or markets that have the highest potential, and where owning investment properties can be a profitable investment.
The cities on this list were chosen based on a number of factors, including the city’s employment growth, population growth, home values, median rents, and rental yield.
Additionally, the cities that I chose are cities where the median price of investment properties is considered affordable and is below the $500k price point (with the exception of Arlington, Texas, where the median property price is $597k).
So, without further ado, here are the top 10 cities for owning investment properties in the US housing market:
1) Columbus, Ohio
Employment growth: 2.3%
Population growth: 1.18%
Increase in home values: 8.7%
Median property value: $252,405
Median monthly rent: $1,262
Median rental yield: 6%
2) Minneapolis, Minnesota
Employment growth: 3.2%
Population growth: 0.86%
Increase in home values: 8.2%
Median property value: $401,592
Median monthly rent: $1,862
Median rental yield: 5.5%
3) San Antonio, Texas
Employment growth: 2.4%
Population growth: 1.67%
Increase in home values: 1.7%
Median property value: $278,652
Median monthly rent: $1,510
Median rental yield: 6.5%
4) Charlotte, North Carolina
Employment growth: 2.9%
Population growth: 1.89%
Increase in home values: 9%
Median property value: $386,609
Median monthly rent: $1,480
Median rental yield: 4.5%
5) Arlington, Texas
Employment growth: 2.9%
Population growth: 1.09%
Increase in home values: 7.8%
Median property value: $597,078
Median monthly rent: $2,468
Median rental yield: 4.9%
6) Reno, Nevada
Employment growth: 3.6%
Population growth: 1.91%
Increase in home values: 7.9%
Median property value: $462,942
Median monthly rent: $1,481
Median rental yield: 3.8%
7) Richmond, Virginia
Employment growth: 2.2%
Population growth: 1.61%
Increase in home values: 14.9%
Median property value: $359,090
Median monthly rent: $1,304
Median rental yield: 4.3%
8) Phoenix, Arizona
Employment growth: 3%
Population growth: 2.03%
Increase in home values: 9.5%
Median property value: $452,777
Median monthly rent: $1,431
Median rental yield: 3.8%
9) Durham, North Carolina
Employment growth: 3%
Population growth: 2.13%
Increase in home values: 8.9%
Median property value: $364,588
Median monthly rent: $1,418
Median rental yield: 4.6%
10) Las Vegas, Nevada
Employment growth: 3.7%
Population growth: 1.68%
Increase in home values: 10.1%
Median property value: $349,803
Median monthly rent: $1,279
Median rental yield: 4.38%
Finding Investment Properties in These Cities
The first step to any real estate investment is choosing a city or a market to invest in.
However, once you’ve made up your mind on a market, your real estate investment venture will have just began. One of the biggest challenges that most real estate investors face is the challenge of finding the best investment properties to purchase in a good market.
There are a number of challenges that any real estate investor will have to overcome during this stage:
- Searching for specific types of properties or narrowing down their search in a certain market.
- Locating investment properties that have a high potential for returns.
- Analyzing and comparing investment properties to determine the best ones.
- Doing the necessary calculations to know what returns are to be expected from investing in the property.
- Doing all the steps in a short amount of time before your competition beats you to the property that you’ve set your mind on.
Related: How to Find an Investment Property Using Analytics
To put it simply, after choosing a market, the process of locating properties, analyzing them, comparing them, and determining the best one to invest in is a lengthy and daunting process. The biggest risk that several real estate investors face during this process is that it can all go to waste if someone else beats you to the property, and you would have to pick a less optimal property or redo the entire process all over again.
The Solution: Mashvisor
How do you overcome these challenges?
By using Mashvisor’s platform, you will ensure that the entire process, from searching for properties to analyzing them to finally contacting the agent to close the deal, can all be achieved in less than 10% of the time that it would usually take.
To learn more about how we will help you make faster and smarter real estate investment decisions, click here.
In fact, Mashvisor was designed for this very specific purpose: to enable real estate investors to find investment properties for purchase without having to go through the daunting task of driving by car or contacting several MLS’s before they can find potential properties to invest in, or analyzing and comparing these properties manually and by using a spreadsheet and a calculator, or even acquire data and info about the property and the agent that you need to contact in order to purchase it.
With Mashvisor, these are all tasks that can be done within a few hours, allowing the investor to beat their competition and to be the first one to find the perfect property to invest in and to do all the necessary analytics and calculations before closing in on the property before anyone else does.
The platform includes a number of features and tools that will be invaluable to you throughout the different stages:
- The search tools allow you to search for investment properties based on your investment criteria and preferences using multiple unique and effective search filters.
- The heat map can be used to find investment properties based on the area’s performance for the different metrics, such as the Cap Rate, Cash on Cash Return, or Occupancy Rate.
- The neighborhood analytics tool allows you to analyze a neighborhood and compare investment properties in it to determine the best set of properties to consider.
- The investment strategy metric and analysis allows you to compare each neighborhood and property based on the optimal rental strategy to use in order to achieve the highest returns.
- The investment property analytics page allows you to analyze each investment property and determine its Rate of Return by automatically calculating the Cap Rate and the Cash on Cash Return metrics for each property.
- The property finder feature allows you to get suggestions about the best properties that you can invest in your city of choice in the least amount of time and based on your investment preferences and goals.
Bottom Line
The top 10 cities for owning investment properties in the US housing market are all showing very high potential for growth, making them excellent picks for investing in real estate in general.
However, to compete better with the other investors, and to gain an advantage over them, it is becoming more important than ever to have the necessary tools that will allow you to compete and beat your competition and achieve the highest return on investment.
To start looking for and analyzing the best investment properties in your city and neighborhood of choice, click here.
If you’re looking for a unique tool that has the highest potential, make sure to consider using Mashvisor – the real estate analytics tool that was created to fulfill your investment needs and provide you with the means to become a successful real estate investor.