A four gate screen takes 46 opportunity zone tracts down to 4 before a dollar is spent
This is not a deal, so say so if it does not count. It is the piece of work most people put off for a year, which is building an actual list instead of reacting to whatever a broker sends. Start with 46 candidate tracts across two counties within driving distance. The screen has four gates. One, is it currently designated and does it show up on the eligibility list for the 2027 round, because nobody wants to build in a place that just got screened out of the program by whatever data Treasury used. Two, does the county show any building permits pulled in the tract in the last 24 months, which comes free from the county permit portal in one county and from a call to the clerk in the other. Three, is there a rent comp within a mile above 1,150 for a two bedroom. Four, does the tract have a utility provider the operator has dealt with before. Gate one takes 46 to 19. Gate two takes 19 to 7, which surprises almost everyone, because a tract where nobody has pulled a permit in two years is telling you something. Rents take 7 to 5. Utilities take 5 to 4. The part that nearly breaks the exercise is gate two in a county with no online portal. The first two people on the phone will say they cannot give out that information. The third call reaches someone in the permit office willing to walk through the index over 25 minutes. Recording and permit practice varies a lot by county and state, so that is luck plus persistence. What to keep: gate two before anything else next time. It is the cheapest gate and it cuts the list hardest.
