TurboTenant Report: The Best Places to Buy Rental Investment Property in Nebraska

In this edition of The TurboTenant report, we will be focusing on the best places to buy an investment property in Nebraska. Two towns made our list: Omaha and Lincoln. 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.

Nebraska, honestly, it’s not for everyone. They know this, and that is why their cheeky new state campaign touts the slogan “Honestly, it’s not for everyone.” This clever little reverse psychology, marketing trickery entices me to dig deeper. They go on to say that it doesn’t have to appeal to everyone “Just to certain independent-thinking someones who dare to be different. Someone like you.” You’ve got us Nebs.

Nebraska is most famously known for its college football team and their diehard fans. The University of Nebraska in Lincoln is home to that team, The Cornhuskers, and our number two town to invest in. Nebraskans also believe that only “boring people get bored…so invent your own fun.” Well, thankfully there isn’t any inventing necessary for our two towns on the list, the numbers speak for themselves. Positive increases were reported for every data point, population growth, employment growth, and home value increases. Leads per property and the days on market are strong for both locations. The home values are affordable and rent is strong to support a positive ROI.

#2: Lincoln, NE

Lincoln is the state’s capital as well as the second most populous city, just behind our number one pick with nearly 300k residents. Lincoln is also home to the University of Nebraska and as we mentioned above, it’s famous football team, the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Football isn’t all that Lincoln as to offer, it has a thriving economy, a new cityscape and was listed as one of the top 10 “most beautiful cities in the U.S.A.” Lincoln is a great place to call home and buy investment property. Landlords are getting 35 leads per property with an average of 18 days on the market. The median sale price is under 200k and rent is strong at $912 on average. Between college students and new families moving to the area, finding a great renter in the Star City will not be a problem.

• Population growth: 2.2%
• Employment growth: 1.4%
• Increase in home values: 3.7%
• Median Sale Price: $193k
• Average Rent: $912
• Average Number of Leads per Property: 35
• Number of days on the rental market: 18

#1: Omaha, NE

Our number one pick is the largest city in the state with nearly half a million residents. Omaha is home to several Fortune 5000 and Fortune 1000 companies, most notably   Berkshire Hathaway, Mutual of Omaha, and Union Pacific Corporation. Fun fact: those pink foam curlers many of us slept in were invented in Omaha at Tip Top Products, the Reuben sandwich was conceived by a chef at the Blackstone Hotel and cake mix was invented at the Omaha Duncan Hines office. You might want to bake yourself a cake and celebrate some of these numbers-landlords are getting 43 leads per property and 15 days on the market. Home values have increased 5.4% year over year and population and employment growth are both on the rise with .5% and 2.2% growth reported. The median sale price is similar to Lincoln, at $196k with a slightly higher average rent reported at $1009. Omaha is affectionately called the The Big O, and in this case that stands for opportunity.

• Population growth: .5%
• Employment growth: 2.2%
• Increase in home values: 5.4%
• Median Sale Price: $196k
• Average Rent: $1009
• Average Number of Leads per Property: 43
• Number of days on the rental market: 15

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.

About the TurboTenant Report

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].

Methodology:

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.

Sources:

• TurboTenant Rental Data
• Fastest Growing States Population
• The Best and Worst Cities to Own Investment Property
• Real Estate data provided by Redfin, a national real estate brokerage.