No theory this week. No philosophy. Just one task. It takes 10 minutes, and when you're done, you'll know more about your local multifamily market than 95% of the people who call themselves "investors."

Ready? Let's go.

What You're Looking For

Three numbers that tell you whether your market is a buyer's market, a seller's market, or somewhere in between:

1. Average price per unit — What does a typical apartment unit cost in your target area?

2. Average days on market — How long are multifamily listings sitting before they sell?

3. Listings over 90 days — How many properties have been sitting for 3+ months with no buyer?

That third number is your buying signal. Properties sitting over 90 days mean sellers who are getting desperate. Sellers who might take a lower price. Who might offer financing. Who might be ready to make a deal.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Go to Redfin.com (3 minutes)

I prefer Redfin over Zillow for this because the data is cleaner and the filtering is better. But Zillow works too.

You now have every multifamily property currently listed for sale in your target area.

Step 2: Record the Basics (3 minutes)

Open a spreadsheet or a notes app. You need three columns:

| Address | Price Per Unit | Days on Market |

For each listing:

You don't need to record every listing. Grab 15-20 that represent the range of your market — a few cheap ones, a few expensive ones, and the ones in the middle.

Step 3: Calculate Your Three Numbers (2 minutes)

1. Average price per unit: Add up all your price-per-unit figures, divide by the number of listings you recorded. This is your market baseline.

2. Average days on market: Same math. Add up all the days on market, divide by number of listings.

3. Count of listings over 90 days: Just count how many of your 15-20 listings have been sitting for more than 90 days.

Step 4: Read the Signal (2 minutes)

Here's how to interpret what you found:

Average days on market under 30: Hot seller's market. Expect bidding wars. Deals are hard to find. Consider expanding to adjacent markets or going off-market.

Average days on market 30-60: Balanced market. Deals exist but you need to move quickly and negotiate well.

Average days on market 60-90: Buyer's market is forming. Sellers are getting softer. Make offers below asking.

Average days on market over 90: Buyer's market. Sellers are struggling. This is where you find the best deals. Make aggressive offers and ask for seller financing.

Listings over 90 days — more than 25% of total inventory: Strong buying signal. Sellers in your market need to sell and can't find buyers at their asking prices. That's opportunity.

What to Do With This

Save your spreadsheet. You're going to update it every two weeks. Over time, you'll see trends — are prices per unit going up or down? Are days on market increasing? Is inventory building?

This is the kind of market intelligence that professional investors track obsessively. Now you're doing it too. For free. In 10 minutes.

Next week, I'm going to show you how to use this data to identify the specific listings that represent the best buying opportunities. But first, you need the baseline.

Do this tonight. Not tomorrow. Not this weekend. Tonight. It takes 10 minutes and a cup of coffee.

Then post your results in the DMS community. Tell us: What market did you pull? What's the average price per unit? How many listings are over 90 days?

Let's compare notes. That's how we all get smarter.

— David