Clients always ask me where do I start looking for properties? Do I just put marketing out in random places? Where are the deals? I always tell them to buy properties in the exact area that YOU LIKE! Deals are all over the place, you just have to find them and their is plenty of sellers out there that are looking for your services. Here is a quick way to research the preferred area of town or city you want to invest in that I use.

Go to www.melissadata.com
On the main page you should see FREE LOOKUPS
From there in the middle you will see everything zip codes. You can select any option to start but I usually go to Carrier Routes by ZIP
Pop in your preferred zip code or if you want to buy properties where you live pop that in too!
You will come up on a series of “carrier routes” which will display some small demographic statics along with number of residential homes and businesses. (Me, personally I like investing in older, middle income level areas but that is my buying preference) Whichever area you choose would be a great start!
From there click on the “map” link which will display that area based on a mail carrier route. Now you will be able to get a sense of what the area looks like, the streets in the area, home count and more. I always like to start there when I decide on investing in a new area. Some of the areas may not be huge which is good if you decide to go with a specific demographic. The goal is to be a big fish in a small pond and dominate your area.
This should be a good start to research where you want to start investing and focus the majority of your marketing budget.

Read my next post on where and how to select the best mailing lists

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