What markets are still worth investing in?

[Roman A Sandler]

Hi guys,

I am a newbie and looking for my first investment property. I will in CA but dont want to invest here for obvious reasons.

I have family in LV and South Florida and wanted to invest there. Spoke w/ some Invester-friendly relators there and they both seemed to say "Its very hard to get cashflow-positive property now and you can expect appreciation of 2-5%." My non-realtor friends in these places say that property values might actually be coming down right now. At these rates, it seems like it would be better (for now) to wait on the sidelines and get a high-dividend REIT.

So my questions are:

1. Is my understanding correct?

2. Are there any markets which currently do seem to have much better returns (looking to get a 4-10% cashflow + decent appreciation on a $500k-$1M property. open to short-term or long-term).

3. If so, is there any systematic way to find these markets besides word-of-mouth? (I'm a data scientist and feel comfortable crunching #s)

Thanks!

[Jay Hinrichs]

you make money on the buy.  use your skills to find off market and undervalued real estate.

there is more to real estate than just rental props. 

however for one living in CA

I do like Vegas personally ( I have invested there) as I have invested in over 20 states.. what I like about Vegas is the age of the homes you would buy at 500 to 1 mil.. no really nasty weather that adds to differed maintenance.. And a very good renter class.. WE moved to furnished Mid term and that has worked out well.  Prop tax's some of the lowest the country very low insurance stucco houses tile roofs and desert landscaping all lead to ease of maintenance over time compared to FLA which of course has all sorts of weather related issues that is detrimental to houses .. high prop tax and sky high insurance ( certain areas) But its also growing.. so there is that. I have a bias for sure to the west coast compared to FLA weather totally flat terrain humidity and bugs.