How to pick a market

[Jackie Comitino]

How do you narrow down a market when you have such a broad range of options? Im on Long Island, NY and I want to start researching markets that would be around a 3-4 hours drive from here. Parts of Connecticut, upstate NY, PA are ones I’m considering that are all within those parameters (distance wise and price range wise) but I’m not sure how exactly to narrow down a state much less a town within that.

This would eventually be a house hack and I’d want to be close enough to drive back home for friends and family but I’m just not sure how to figure out how to narrow down a location to start focusing on.