We’ve spent a lot of time researching the key features and amenities tenants look for in rental properties, and there is one feature that keeps reappearing: walkability. Renters want to be able to walk to restaurants, bars, grocery stores, and more. Walk Score is a fantastic, free tool to help you check out the walkability of unfamiliar neighborhoods before you purchase your next investment property or gain more insight on the walkability of your current properties.
Available for any address and neighborhood in the United States, Walk Score generates a score from 0-100 on the area walkability. A score of 90 or above is viewed as a “Walker’s Paradise,” while a score below 24 is viewed as a “Car-Dependent” area. You can also see a Transit Score for quality and ease of public transportation and a Bike Score for bike-ability of the area.
If you want to buy a walkable investment property and not sure where to look, Walk Score has done the research for you. By analyzing over ten million locations and computing more than two billion walking routes in 2,500 U.S. cities, Walk Score has gathered extremely reliable data on the most walkable areas in the country.
What’s really cool is, if you do have a walkable investment property, you can use it in your advertising. Walk Score allows you to generate a free widget to put on your property listing or website. For more tips and tricks to find desirable rental properties, check out our “Finding Properties” section of our blog.
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Related: Know ROI Before You Buy, Where should I purchase my rental property?