In this edition of The TurboTenant report, we will be focusing on the best places to buy an investment property in Alabama. Four towns made our list: Auburn, Huntsville, Birmingham, and Bessemer. We curated data from studies on the best places to buy an investment property, median sale prices, and proprietary TurboTenant data. The TurboTenant Data includes stats on the average number of leads a rental property received, as well as the average number of days on the market. These two points will help an investor determine the strength of the rental market, as well as estimating potential vacancy rates.
“Sweet home Alabama, where the skies are so blue” – Lynyrd Skynyrd wasn’t wrong when he penned these famous lyrics. Alabama is often referred to as the deep South with a total of 1,500 miles of inland waterways, more than any other state. Alabama has had its fair share of the spotlight in America’s history, both good and bad. However, now, Alabama is a great place to visit and live whether it’s visiting the beaches in the Gulf, seeing historical sites of the Civil Rights Movement, or enjoying some seafood. All of our Alabama towns have seen employment growth as the state has a strong economy in manufacturing things such as steel production and fabrication. Not to mention, Alabama is home to some of the top universities in the south – Auburn and University of Alabama. P.S. – you don’t want to mess with their football fans.
‘Bama has towns for every type of property investor – let’s find out the best places to buy a rental property in The Yellowhammer State.
Auburn is, of course, home to Auburn University – a prestigious college in America where football, Greek life, and great programs are some of its claims to fame. Fun breweries, restaurants, and outdoor trails make it an appealing place to be for students as well as others. Tiger students love the low rent of only $919 while investors love the median sale price of only $169k! This college town can be a competitive market, but even with just seven leads per property, landlords will fill their rentals in two weeks or less.
Birmingham is the largest city in the state and is nestled at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Historically, it was a prime manufacturing center and now has developed an economy based off of medical research, banking, and services. It has been voted one of the nation’s most livable cities with a thriving community and more green space per capita than any other city in the nation. Birmingham has 99 historic district, many of them vital to the Civil Rights Movement, great for property investors. There is a steady increase in home values at 6.7% and median sales price of $230k – a great price for this booming city. It’s known as the Magic City and Birmingham has magic for you with a solid amount of leads and only 11 days on the rental market.
Bessemer is in the heart of Alabama and is centrally located to Birmingham and its economy. With around 27,000 residents, Bessemer has a great blend of businesses, a historic downtown, and is a short drive from several colleges included the University of Alabama. It’s also home to some great Southern cuisine including the famous Bob Sykes BBQ! Renters love the average rent of only $794 which is an affordable option to Birmingham. Bessemer is known as the Marvel City and property investors should marvel at its average of 56 leads per property and only 16 days on the market – quite impressive for this smaller suburb which is why it is our number two choice for property investors.
Huntsville is located at the foot of a mountain in North Alabama and is known as the Rocket City because of its high-tech economy that has contributed to developing space technology since the 1950s. It’s in a great location only two hours from Nashville, two hours from Birmingham, and only a seven hour drive to New Orleans! Huntsville is a great place for space lovers, art lovers, and property investors looking for a great ROI on their properties. Huntsville has the record number of leads for our Alabama towns sitting at 111! Landlords can also expect an average of only two weeks or less on the market as well as a great increase in home values of 12%. Huntsville’s got space – especially for property investors.
Once you’ve landed the perfect investment property in a good location, TurboTenant can help take your landlording into the digital world by streamlining the rental process with easy and free online rental applications as well as thorough tenant screening so you can find the best renter for your property.
Use our handy map tool to explore top rental markets throughout the U.S.
The TurboTenant Report analyzes data from active listings across all 50 states, as well as third party real estate, population and employment growth data. Our goal with the TurboReport is to empower seasoned and novice investors to make wise purchasing decisions when purchasing a rental investment property. For more information or custom data requests, please contact [email protected].
In order to determine the best cities to invest in each state, we curated data from a number of reputable sources as well as using TurboTenant proprietary data. Our main city selections were taken from a study that evaluated four main factors for each city: employment growth, population growth, increase in home values and rental yield. We combined that with TurboTenant data on the average rent price, the number of rental leads per property, as well as the average number of days the rental stays on the market.
We also included an honorable mention where applicable. They are pulled from this study on the best places to invest in every state. These were determined using Zillow’s Buyer-Seller Index and Zillow Home Value Forecast, and AreaVibes’ Livability Score. Other methods for determining honorable mentions include using TurboTenant proprietary data to determine which cities return the best rental investment R.O.I. using data points including days on market, the number of leads per property, and average rent price.
DISCLAIMER: TurboTenant, Inc does not provide legal advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only. All users are advised to check all applicable local, state and federal laws and consult legal counsel should questions arise.
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