determining how many zipcodes to analyze

[Kyle Garro]

Hello all, I am a what most would call a newbie (developed two properties and sold on speculation, but no multifamilies owned) but i would like to get into the multifamily space. I have a fairly good idea how to analyze a good deal or not by the numbers but i am having a hard time determining where to look. I am in between madison and milwaukee (wisconsin), which are both decent markets. My question is, how do you pick zip codes inside of a market to focus on and how many do you focus on if you have a town of 230,000 people (madison) vs. 600,000 people (milwaukee). I don't want to look at the entire city, I just don't have the time so i want to focus on a few zipcodes, become an expert there and grow that way. Any one have an idea of how you pick zipcodes and how many you should be focusing on if you have the population discussed above? I am looking for b properties or maybe c with some value adds, if that helps. Thanks for any help folks.