Choosing a good location is essential if you’re looking to buy or build an investment property. For one, it’s likely to influence the price, attractiveness, and profitability of a building. And overall, your building’s location is most likely to determine the success of your venture.  

There are ways to help you identify areas ideal to invest in, regardless of how close or far they may be from your current location. For instance, if you’re in Australia, as a good start, you can check out sites like Australian Property Investor to see the current trends, developments, and occurrences in various regions. Property magazines will also provide this data. 

Another way to identify if a particular area you may be interested in is ideal for property investment is by doing your own research. Hence, in this article, we’ll outline some tips to help make things easier for you. 

Below are things you should do to establish if a location is excellent for investment property:

1. Find Out The Crime Rate

Before buying or building investment property in any area, you should determine its crime rate. Essentially, no one wants to rent or purchase a home in a region that isn’t safe. There are several ways to identify how safe a place may be. 

For example, you can utilize apps and websites where you can enter a location and see its crime rate. Some will even give you specific details like a sequence of security issues by date or a specific crime that happened recently, the day it occurred, and where it took place. 

Besides that, you could also visit the preferred location yourself. Ask the residents how safe they feel the place currently is. Don’t forget to enquire about theft or any other security issues the area may have experienced lately or that may be rampant in the place. Also, determine if the location has a crime prevention program. For example, a neighborhood watch often signifies that the residents co-operate with local police, and they’ll report any unusual behaviors or activities they witness.

You could also walk around the area to see its condition and draw your own conclusions. A clean and well-kept area is likely to be safe. However, an area may have a high crime rate if you can see shuttered windows, overgrown yards, broken street lights, or run-down fences and houses. 

1. Identify Property Value Trends 

It would also be best to analyze an area’s property price trends. This means establishing if the buildings in the location have appreciated buying or rental value, depreciated, or remained the same. This can help you see if the place is worth putting your money into. 

First, find out how much buying or rental property prices in the area were in the last 5-10 years and if and how the value changed. After that, identify what caused the value to go up, down, or remain constant. Also, establish the current prices of property and identify if there are any developments underway that may affect them. 

You can work with a resident that has lived in the region for several years to know the above. Consulting a local real estate agent might also help. Besides, they might help you find the best property to invest in and look for buyers or tenants for you.

1. Examine The Job Market  

Your property may be bought or rented by people who are still in their working years. In this case, consider investing in a location that offers more job opportunities and easy access to local companies. 

As much as possible, keep off areas far from firms or with a rising unemployment rate. Most people are likely to move away to look for job opportunities in such places. Therefore, there’ll be a high supply of property and a low demand for housing in the future.

However, if you find many companies are moving into an area, it’s a good sign. There may be a population increase in the coming years because more people will come in to look for work. As a result, the region could expect a higher housing demand. 

Final Thoughts 

If you’re looking to tap into real estate and buy or build homes to rent or sell them later, you must be careful about selecting the area you choose to invest in. This is because location can determine a property’s profitability, value, and appeal to customers. 

In this article, you’ve learned some ways you can determine if an area you’re interested in is an ideal location for investment property. As seen, if a region or city has a low crime rate, its buildings’ value is rising, and the current or potential employment rate is high, it can be a worthwhile property to invest in.