Before investing in a particular area, one should check a number of factors. Digital tools now available allow us to obtain more accurate, current data and help us to factor in the property’s location, neighborhood and city.
The first thing you should check is whether the photo of the house matches the image of the property that you received from the company. There are companies that will send you pictures which are just too beautiful to be true.
Next, you should check the property in comparison to other properties on the same street. Does it look very different from neighbors’ homes? Does it look better or worse? What is the size of the surrounding lot? What is the condition of the siding (the exterior walls of the house) and the roof?
In addition, one should check whether the neighborhood is tidy and well cared for. Do the neighbors’ homes look well maintained? Have the lawns been mowed? How do the roads look? Are there parks in the vicinity? How clean is the environment? Google Maps can help you with this, and you can check virtually every town and road in the United States. The images they show are real and informative.
Please note: Every neighborhood has important anchors. The more anchors there are, the more attractive the neighborhood will be. These anchors include shopping centers, malls, hospitals, schools, universities, well-known branded companies and workplaces, banks, country clubs, golf courses, etc. You should look to see that the area has these anchors and check the distance
between these anchors and the property. After all, everyone wants to live in a vibrant area where everything is easily available. The more anchors, the greater the chance of finding a tenant quickly.
We like to get a good idea about the area using Google Maps. You can get a quick tour of the property, allowing you to see the types of vehicles in the area and who lives there. Although cars in the United States are much less expensive than in Israel, jeeps and luxury cars in the parking lots do provide useful evidence that the neighborhood has a strong economic foundation.
Just seeing Jeeps parked in the driveways and along the streets doesn’t necessarily prove that the neighborhood is wealthy, but it does suggest that the area is middle class, and the residents who live in the property will be able to pay their rent to the investor. You can also get an impression of the people on the street by their clothing, for example. In addition, there are websites that provide socioeconomic data and statistics for each street, and which is a more accurate method. One must be sure that the area’s residents would make desirable tenants from an economic point of view and that the property isn’t located in a slum neighborhood or high-crime area.
