Deciding between 2 markets - stuck in analysis paralysis

[Alan Casilla]

Hi All,

New investor here! I'm currently doing as much reading and learning as I can about investments (before I make my first purchase) and currently am looking to the mid west/Texas. I currently reside in CA and want to invest in either San Antonio TX or Columbus OH. Some criteria I researched are: Job Diversity, Population Growth, Weather, Higher Education in the area, Unemployment between 2006-2010 (trying to gauge possible unemployment in the near future), Median Family Income, areas of low crime in the city, researching new areas of growth (specifically class B/C).

In the long run I am looking for cash flow, but currently want to focus on appreciation (in order to build capital for future building my portfolio).

I did much analysis and I do have family in the San Antonio area which makes it easier to have a home base and someone with insight to the area. I see population growth is massive for San Antonio, and job market was not as affected in 2008 as Columbus was. In general Columbus has more properties in a lower price range which is enticing to me to be able to invest in more than a single property to start off. I see more opportunity based on price in Columbus, but due to having family / insights to the area in San Antonio I feel more inclined to start there even though it is more expensive than Columbus.

I feel like I am getting close to analysis paralysis. Of all of your experiences, are there any other pieces of criteria I should look into to help push me to a single city?

[Daniel Judge]

@Taylor L. I've seen this criticism of Columbus a couple times on here (that it is suspect because someone considers it part of the Rust Belt). I am happy to see any competition choose other cities/regions to make things a bit easier here on the local little guys like myself, but Columbus is a very modern city with incredible job diversity. Manufacturing jobs are definitely a piece of the overall jobs pie in Columbus, but the sector represents a smaller portion of the overall jobs makeup in comparison to the rest of the US. It's actually only the 7th biggest job sector in the Columbus metro area (think instead of education, government, healthcare, business services, utilities, transportation, etc):

https://www.clevelandfed.org/en/newsroom-and-events/publications/metro-mix/columbus/mm-201911-columbus.aspx

It also doesn't feel like a rust belt city. I've lived in Cleveland and you can drive around that city and see the remnants of past industry (I actually think it gives Cleveland a lot of its character, so not intended as a criticism). You don't get that same vibe in Columbus at all (with some saying Columbus doesn't have as much identity/character as other cities because of all of the development that's taken place in recent years).