By Marco Santarelli

If you’re considering long-term investment in real estate, rental property can be a great option for you. We will be discussing the best features of a profitable rental property which can assure great returns with stability. Rental property investment (or simply buy-to-let investment) is a very viable form of investment. As an investment avenue, it more often than not guarantees you a steady return on your investment. This, alongside forming a fairly strong protective hedge around your financial future.

Rental property investment continues to grow all over the world. This growth is attributed to rapid urbanization and changes in per capita income alongside other socio-economic factors. Here in the U.S. alone, National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) reports that an estimated 43, 837, 496 households currently reside in rental property. This makes for around 37% of the country’s population.

When seeking to buy a rental property, it’s important that you tread cautiously. This will help you to avoid common risks in rental property investing. Real estate although a profitable field is also equally a very tricky one. There’s a lot to be wary of including con agents and dealers, substandard properties, and exorbitant charges alongside others. It’s just important that you exercise caution before buying anything.

Talking about being careful, there’s one mistake that every rental property investor must seek to avoid. What is this? Well, it’s the mistake of buying an unprofitable rental property. Purchasing such a rental property is like taking all your hard-earned money and throwing it away. The property will just be sitting there with you barely earning anything from it. Worse still, it may even take from you in the form of repair and maintenance expenses.

Investors seeking to invest in rental properties should always first ascertain a property’s viability. There’s only one way to know if a given property is indeed profitable, this is by checking if it meets the profitable rental property criteria. Below is a list of top 10 features of a profitable rental property.

Before anything else, a real estate investor should be convinced that the given rental property is financially worthwhile. Ask yourself whether the property in its current or improved state is really worth spending your money on. How much rent is it likely to earn you per month? What’s the cost of repairs and refurbishment? Is it worth it? These are the kind of questions you should be asking yourself beforehand.

An ideal rental property should earn you an annual gross rent of at least 12% of the purchase price. Apply the one percent rule to help you determine this. The monthly rent you’ll be collecting should at least be 1% of the house’s value. This is one of the best features of a profitable rental property considered by seasoned real estate investors. Additionally, you can also involve a financial expert to help you determine the cap rate. This too will help you decide on whether the property is really worth it.

There isn’t any other way, a rental property owner needs tenants. This is the only way he or she can earn income from the property they’ve invested in.

The amount of income you make from a rental property is directly proportional to the neighborhood it’s located in. Neighborhoods with high rent rates will earn you more money than those with less. Likewise, neighborhoods with a higher caliber of clients will also earn you more. A perfect illustration of this is a case where there’re two neighborhoods, one dominated by college students and the other with working class family occupants. It goes without much saying that the latter will earn you more profits. The is also one of the features of a profitable rental property that you should always keep in mind.

Security is very key when it comes to rental property investing. No tenant can knowingly want to live in an insecure neighborhood where crime or burglary rates are high. This holding true, your rental property business is unlikely to thrive in an unsafe and crime infested area. One of the features of a profitable rental property is that it should be located in a very safe neighborhood.

Therefore, choose a neighborhood with adequate security when purchasing a property. Check things like street lighting, patrol police presence, proximity to sheriff departments, and crime data reports among others.

Availability of highly rated schools is another key indicator of a rental property’s potential profitability. Presence of educational facilities greatly determines whether tenants choose to settle in one place or not. It’s all parents’ wish to give their children high quality education that can spur them forward in life. Parents can therefore never wish to live in an area that lacks quality schools and educational hubs. There should be elementary, middle and high schools of good standards in the neighborhood. This is also one of the best features of a profitable rental property. You can check the school ratings from sites like Zillow.com.

As an investor, take care therefore to pick a location with best schools and learning abilities.

Rental property investment thrives in areas with adequate amenities. Tenants want to be able to always access the facilities and services they require. These include things like shopping malls, gyms, medical facilities, and restaurants. They also include services such as telephone, water, electricity, and internet. Tenants will readily occupy your house if they can conveniently access these amenities – another great feature of a profitable rental property.

profitable rental property features

Related to socio-economic amenities, adequate transport also plays a significant part in rental property investment. Rental real estate business can only do well in areas with adequate transport.

Ask yourself these questions:

Does your would be neighborhood have a good network of roads?

Are the roads tarmacked?

Do they have potholes or get flooded when it heavily rains?

Is there enough public transport?

Are there other means of transport aside from road – Airports, Buses and Tubes?

These questions will help you make a choice.

You can’t talk of the features of a profitable rental property without also talking about sanitation. There’s a need that the rental property you intend to buy be in a place with adequate sanitation. Tenants tend to shy away from places with wanting hygiene and sanitation. Picture this, no one would wish to live in a place where flies dash in and out at will or where drains lie open or where there is a badly managed sewage system.

Try and pick a property with sufficient sanitation. Check on things like waste disposal, toilets and sanitary facilities, septic tanks, water and sewerage, and storm water drainage, etc. The cleaner the house and the neighborhood is, the higher the amount of profits you can make from it.

Climate too plays an important part in the success of a profitable rental property investing business. Houses located in places with inclement weather usually struggle to attract clients. It’s therefore necessary that you choose a location with the right climate for your property.

In line with picking the right climate, avoid cities which tend to have extreme and harsh weather. Also avoid areas which are prone to floods and even fires.

With natural disasters and calamities, you really can’t say whether a place is immune to destruction or not. It’s just a matter of hoping for the best.

Anywhere, there are places which from past occurrences have been known to be highly prone to natural disasters. These include disasters such as tornadoes, hurricanes, windstorms, wild fires, storms, and even earthquakes. Places such as these are not very suitable location choices for rental properties. In the event of such disasters, one loses all their investment. This can be quite unfortunate if you also didn’t have an insurance cover against such eventualities.

Property taxes on property in a given city or state also determines the profitability of rental property investment. The higher the taxes and charges levied by the government in a given area, the less you’ll earn from investing in that area. Try and choose an area with attractive state levies.

Investing in a rental property can be a hugely profitable venture or a financial mistake. It all depends on how you go about. Try and take your time before putting your money on any property. Check carefully and be sure that it really is worthwhile. Depending on your situation, you can go about the property purchase on your own or alternatively involve a real estate agent. Whatever the case, you should be able to reek in some profits from the right property.

We recommend these 4 markets for a profitable rental property investing:

Houston Real Estate Market

Atlanta Real Estate Market

Dallas Real Estate Market

Birmingham Real Estate Market

Despite the recent Fed hike, purchasing a turnkey home is still a good call in today's low-interest environment. As of January 2017, the interest rate for a 30-year conventional fixed rate mortgage is 4.25% with an APR of 4.323%. For a 20-year conventional fixed-rate mortgage the average interest rate is 4.125% with an APR of 4.225%. And for a 10-year fixed rate mortgage, the average interest rate is 3.625% with an APR of 3.751%. (Based on figures from usbank.com)

While it may sound like a great way to bring in some extra revenue, it’s important to realize that real estate investing isn’t for everyone. There’s always the threat of some unforeseen calamity, from a sudden property tax hike to chronic maintenance issues to accidents (fire, falling trees, etc.). Buyers should have the nerve – not to mention the extra cash – to deal with these surprises.

Experienced investors also say it’s important to view turnkey properties as a long-term undertaking. Unlike stocks and other relatively liquid investments, homes can take a while to sell. So if owning a rental isn’t something you can commit to for years, it’s probably not worth getting involved in the first place.

Turnkey properties are an interesting alternative for people without the time to physically renovate or maintain a real estate investment. To be sure, investing in real estate is never a risk-free endeavor. But these properties can be an attractive option for those looking to diversify their assets without encountering the day-to-day hassles of being a landlord.

Investors pay a premium to acquire homes in move-in condition, so their potential returns aren’t as high as those for folks who flip older unit themselves. They also have to pay someone to manage the property, which further cuts into the bottom line. Even so, some of the more successful turnkey buyers can generate profits in excess of 10%.