A planned and organized search can lead to a great Income Property Investment.

Many condo investors think that it’s an easy process to find an income property and earn a positive return from that investment.  This is far from the truth. In reality, there is a lot that needs to be done and considered before an investment actually takes place.  The last thing any investor wants is to purchase a new condo and then later lose money on that investment.

 

Before an investor goes to their local real estate agent, it’s helpful to start a search of their own.  Every investor needs to know what types of properties they are looking for and what is actually available to match those needs.

 

Condo investors also need to thoroughly understand the neighborhoods as a whole when they are looking at various new condo developments.  A nice neighborhood is obviously going to attract better tenants than a neighborhood that is run down.  Also, if an investor is looking into a neighborhood near a college or university, they need to be comfortable with college students as tenants and multiple vacancy periods during the times in which school is not in session.

 

It’s also a good idea to be aware of the job market, amenities available, the crime rates and public school situations for their chosen investment neighborhood.  If the schools are of good quality, then renters will be willing to pay slightly higher rent in order for their children to attend those schools.  When new businesses are opening in the area, it will mean more people looking for a place to live nearby. Neighborhoods with playgrounds, access to public transportation and near malls and stores are always very popular.  Areas with all of these amenities will attract families whom will usually be looking for long-term rentals.

 

A riskier choice that some investors decide to make is to buy in low-end areas and then hope that the neighborhood will gentrify and improve in the near future.  Many young people often want to live in these areas because they will be closer to the city where the rent is more affordable. The downside is that the people who rent in these areas are not always looking for long-term rentals and therefore vacancies might be more frequent.

 

All of these factors can be easily understood and considered with the proper search tools and information repositories. Condonow.com provides an interface to make these searches easy to carry out and even easier to understand. Here’s a great example of a neighborhood comparison search for pre-construction condo developments in the waterfront area of Toronto that shows many of these investments related details.

 

Investment properties are just like any other business.  They take time, money and patience in order to find the ones that are truly the best choice. Using the proper tools to get your information can not only save you time and effort, they can make the decision process clear and much easier to understand.

 

Starting with a thorough, planned out search can be one of the most important steps that will lead to a great investment decision.