I just got back from visiting friend in Indianapolis and whilst there decided to look at some property.
It seems you can quite easily pick up a multi-unit property (normally 2 units), in reasonable shape, close to downtown, with existing tenents for between $30-40K and with a rental value of between $900-1200 pcm.
This seems potentially a good deal - am I missing something?
A quick google seems to show that Indianapolis has the most affordable housing in the US (ie. average house price set against average income), but that it was affected by large manufacturing lay-off's in recent years (eg Pfizer)and a lot of new-builds coming on to the market. I guess this makes it an attractive BTL possibility - unlike the UK where rent in many areas will not cover the mortgage cost. However, the US mortgage/house slump seems to be getting worse - house prices are falling so there would be no point buying now and expecting capital growth. You would have to research very carefully and make sure that it was still viable if prices were to drop say 20%.
Like you, my reasearch suggests that Indianapolis does have the most affordable housing in the US... for something like the 4th or 5th time in a row. It also suggests that Indy as a city is one of the most popular places for relocation currently.
But it also suggests that like much of the Mid West, Indy hasnt experienced the downturn in housing values that the rest of the country has. That said, it didnt experience the same growth over recent years either.
Capital growth I am not sure about, especially in the short term, but BTL seems very attractive - if my figures are correct then the properties Im looking at would produce between 10-15% net, which is tempting when compared to much of Europe.
