How Equity on Repeat Selects Rental Markets: Our Methodology
How Equity on Repeat Selects Rental Markets: Our Methodology
Investors ask us regularly: how do you choose where to invest? The answer isn’t a single metric or a trending market report — it’s a multi-factor evaluation process we’ve refined over years of investing our own capital in markets across 13 states. Here’s how we think about market selection.
Job Growth and Employer Diversity
We start with employment data. Rental demand follows jobs. We look for markets with net job growth across multiple sectors — not dependent on a single employer or industry. Diverse economies absorb sector-specific downturns without the rental vacancy spikes that single-industry towns experience. Healthcare, defense, logistics, technology, and manufacturing are among the sectors we weight most positively.
Population Growth and Migration Trends
We track net in-migration data by metro. People move to places with opportunity and affordability. Markets with consistent population inflow have structural rental demand. We look at 5-year trends, not just recent headlines — durable migration patterns are more predictive than one-year spikes driven by COVID-era movement.
Price-to-Rent Ratio
We target markets where the median purchase price divided by annual rent falls below 15x. Above 20x, cash flow becomes theoretical. Below 12x, you’re in genuine cash-flow territory. We want to invest where the income supports the price — not the other way around.
Landlord-Tenant Law Environment
Operating predictability matters. We evaluate state and local landlord-tenant statutes: eviction timelines, notice requirements, rent control laws, habitability standards. Markets with streamlined, owner-friendly frameworks reduce operating risk meaningfully over a long hold period.
On-the-Ground Relationships
We don’t invest in markets where we don’t have trusted teams. Before we bring a market to investors, we’ve identified and vetted property managers, have relationships with local agents, and have walked properties ourselves. Market knowledge from data is valuable — market knowledge from experience is invaluable.
Book a call and ask us specifically about any market you’re considering. We’ll give you our honest read.