You don’t have to be a landlord to make an income from the real estate industry. There are many opportunities to invest in commercial real estate projects, and just as many strategies for commercial real estate investing.
But before you even make that first investment decision, data analytics can help. Commercial real estate data analytics offers opportunities for informed decision-making, risk mitigation, and insights into future trends.
Did you know you can use data analytics to find investments in student housing, too? This is your guide to using analytics for identifying student housing investments you can rely on.
Regardless of which industry you are based in, you will likely be familiar with the term data analytics. Data analytics is a multidisciplinary field, which uses statistics, mathematical calculations, computer science, and the latest technological innovations.
It can be used to draw insights about any industry. For example, real estate data analytics is the process of examining and analyzing raw data relevant to the real estate industry. And commercial real estate data analytics does the same for the commercial properties market.
These real-estate-specific data analytics are accessed with real estate software and other specialized tools. From student intern housing near Capitol Hill to student accommodations in Vermont, real estate data can give you the complete picture.
Commercial real estate data analytics that highlights supply, demand, and performance allows investors and developers to make more strategic decisions.
They can use the data to evaluate market demand, assess market feasibility, and estimate potential return on their investments. Analysis of the historical data and emerging changes in the market also facilitates more accurate commercial real estate trend forecasting.
Commercial real estate is defined as property that is used for business purposes. Examples include office buildings and retail centers.
However, investors don’t often realize that student housing is also an example of commercial real estate. Apartment buildings containing more than 4 units, hotels, and student housing can all be classified as types of commercial real estate.
Similar to these other assets, student housing can be a rewarding and resilient investment.
Regardless of which sector in the commercial real estate industry you choose to invest in, you’ll benefit from analyzing the relevant industry data. Therefore, industry data analytics will be of great use for your investments in the student housing sector as well.
Many different categories of data are collected in real estate analytics, for both residential and commercial real estate. Prospective real estate investors and developers may look at everything from population statistics to property listings, sales records, and neighborhood specifics for a predetermined area.
Let’s have a closer look at the main categories of data collected and why they matter for your investments in the student housing sector.
The demographics of a population group describe the statistical characteristics of that group, ergo demographic data is the data that pertains to these characteristics. It is useful for determining, among other things, the average gender, age, socioeconomic status, and education levels of a community.
Demographic data helps real estate investors and developers who need to identify ideal target markets for commercial properties like student housing.
Real estate market data includes statistics relevant to buying, selling, and pricing of properties in an area. Commercial real estate market data therefore refers to supply, demand, average purchase prices, and potential rental rates.
Investors use this data to determine the feasibility and affordability of commercial property investment like student properties in a specific area.
All properties, including commercial properties like student housing, have their own data. This includes the property’s location, size, number of certain types of rooms, and amenities. Property-specific data can also indicate the student housing building in question’s age and transaction (purchase and/or lease) history.
Property-specific data is typically sourced from real estate listings but can also be gleaned from appraisal reports and public records.
Neighborhood data is just as important when considering investment in student housing as it is for multifamily property investment. It highlights the services that students will have access to, such as shopping centers and other retail centers, health and fitness centers, social hotspots, and public parks.
Where these are lacking, students’ interest in the properties may be reduced, affecting demand in that area. However, purpose-built student properties resolve some of these issues, with tailored amenities that provide extra value by catering to student’s day-to-day needs.
This is how commercial real estate investors apply the real estate data they collect to their student housing sector investments.
Commercial property investors and developers understand the importance of aligning supply with demand. Therefore, they use commercial real estate data to pinpoint student housing investment and development opportunities in areas with the highest demand for them.
Do you need insights into this issue right now? Read our guide to supply and demand in student housing.
Of course, investment in commercial property is done with a financial objective, even when it is a student property. The aim is always to make a profit through future rental of the commercial space to students. Once the commercial property is ready to rent out to tenants, it becomes a steady income stream.
In any investment strategy, there will be a focus on local competition.
By using commercial real estate data to evaluate competitive markets, investors and developers can determine two things. First, they will know how much competition they face in that area, and second, they can estimate potential profitability by analyzing the performance of the competitor properties.
These commercial real estate tools provide far more information than any commercial real estate listing can. This makes them invaluable in commercial real estate data analytics for student housing sector investments.
Location Intelligence describes insights gained from geospatial data like maps, charts, and statistics. It entails layering multiple datasets such as demographics, economic factors, and neighborhood data, over a specific location.
Geographical Information Systems or GIS tools, are software applications that aid in the visualization of these geographic data. This helps with identifying location-specific patterns at a glance, to determine whether or not specific locations are ideal for student properties.
It’s not enough to collect data if there’s no simple way to visualize it in action. That’s where data visualization platforms come into play. These software applications can be used to generate and display visual portrayals of pertinent student property real estate data with ease.
With the creation and widespread adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI), it wasn’t long before predictive analytics and machine learning made their way into real estate data analytics.
These tools leverage historical real estate data to develop statistical algorithms that can anticipate student housing market trends and potential risks. This helps the would-be commercial property investor identify the student property investment opportunities with the most promise and the least risk.
These 5 steps will help you build an analytics-driven strategy for your future commercial real estate endeavors in the student housing sector.
The first step should always be to set clear investment objectives. In other words, what do you expect to achieve with your investment in a particular student housing property?
The world of commercial real estate rentals is just as prone to changes in investment trends as any other property market. Keep abreast of student housing market trends with our guide to trends shaping investments in student housing.
Is the piece of land that a student housing project is destined for, a viable option? What does the data say about existing student-specific commercial properties in the area? It’s questions like these that commercial real estate data analytics seeks to answer.
Analyze the relevant data and you’ll have peace of mind when making your investment choices.
When you need student housing industry-specific data, speak to industry experts.
Use the right tools and platforms, created by those who know and understand this sector of the real estate market you wish to invest in. For example, College House is a top choice for investors considering student property investments.
Commercial real estate data is highly fluid and dynamic, as are the trends that sweep through the growing student housing industry. To ensure that your investments always meet your objectives, monitor the metrics and adjust your portfolio as needed.
Any property investment comes with certain inherent risks. But once you understand how to use analytics to find commercial real estate investments, you can mitigate many of them.
You can apply the lessons learned to the student housing sector, too. And when you have access to the expertise, data insights, and latest updates from College House, your odds for investment success will be even greater.
We make student property data analytics and intelligence easy to understand, access, and use. Contact us today to book your demo.
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