Criteria for out of state investing?

[Zubair Afzal]

Hi Everyone,

I could really use your advice on a few items.  I am currently looking to invest out of state as my current area in Orange County is kind of crazy to invest in.  Right now I have a few different areas that I’m leaning towards I was hoping to get some feedback on what criteria that I should look at before selecting a particular market.  My strategy is to buy and hold.  My current criteria are as follows

1.  What is the unemployment rate in the area?

2.  What is the population growth over the last few years?

3.  What economic sectors employ the most people?  (Ideally this should be diverse)

4.  What is the price to rent ratio?  Ideally we will have the 1% rule apply here.  

I’m currently looking at 5 different markets.  They are all in landlord friendly states.

Once I find out the numbers I will then look at specific areas in the market with low crime rate.

Any thoughts or ideas?  Right now I’m just getting started so I feel like there is a lot to learn.  I just want to make sure I do due diligence before jumping in.  Any advice or feedback would be appreciated.  What else do you look at before picking an area to invest in?