Last updated on February 15th, 2019 at 10:03 pm

Last Updated on February 15, 2019 by

If you are new to investing investing in residential real estate, please read my blog article on this site. Investing in residential rental property on the Mississippi Gulf Coast requires far less capital than investing on similar sized homes in more costly markets e.g. California.

Of course the average household income in the area is lower than in more costly states so one can expect the rents to be lower as well. As a seasoned investor you understand that it’s about things like Cap rate, ROI, Cash-on-Cash return that tell you if an investment is a good one or not. My example is that if you were to buy a rental property on the Mississippi Gulf Coast for $125,000 and the same sized home in Orange County, CA for $400,000 you can earn the same Cap Rate from both. Obviously the dollar return in California is higher.

What this means to again, a seasoned investor is that you can buy more than one home in Mississippi and spread out your risk. In the end, you will probably earn more by investing in multiple properties than in just one for the same initial investment.

Starter investment homes that are more or less ready to rent when the sale is closed sell for just above $70.000. The selection at the low end is more plentiful at $90k and above. The median home sells for just under $170,000 so you can see that the starter properties are substantially lower.

Rental rates in the area go from about $500 upwards to $1,800 for most rental properties. The higher amounts are for larger, newer homes located in the more desired areas. Schools in the area are very good but there are some school districts e.g. Ocean Springs that will attract people who are willing to pay more for their leased home.

The employment situation is good here and there are fairly high paying jobs for the area to be found at the shipyards, port and military bases. Casinos pay some managers and specialists higher wages and of course there are professionals e.g. doctors, attorneys etc. who will earn still more.

Leases are typically for 12 months. Many homes come with appliances. Trash and sewer are usually included in the rent. Some property owners also include water and power with a calculation to avoid overuse. HOA fees and some parking fees are paid by property owners.