Residential Multifamily Locations - Specialize or Diversify?

[Jim Edelstein]

Hi - I'm a new real estate investor located in Shokan NY. I have enough capital for a few residential (single or multi family) deals at my disposal. I'd like to BRRR and turn that into more than a few deals, but it's very difficult in my immediate surrounding location. Not impossible, but difficult. Prices are high and it's a sellers market with everyone moving up from NYC and staying. I'm looking further afield, primarily Albany and Rochester (where my son goes to school). These seem like MUCH more attractive markets in terms of cashflow and BRRR potential.

Having seen what happened to Kingston after IBM left I'm concerned about having all my eggs in one basket.  But I'm also aware that the amount of work involved in building several teams instead of one is a major challenge.

My question is this - should I look to diversify and do individual deals in several different locations, or should I specialize and do all my deals in one location? 

Thanks!
Jim