Is getting hooked on numbers pointless for a newbie?

[Allen Gross]

I have been looking at Indianapolis, Indiana quite a bit to be my market as a strictly out-of-state investor. However, I realize I need to study markets to decide if they are appropriate for my future goals.

Now, for my first multi-family investment home I am being stingy and not wanting to invest more than 100,000, max 200,000. I am 'older' and am worried I will lose a lot of money to learn some valuable lessons. I am more interested in possibly losing less money to learn an equally valuable lesson. In other words, I am scared to take the plunge.

The market I work in (San Francisco, CA) is not a market I want to invest in for cash flow and to get my feet wet.

Anyway, I have been searching and have come across Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Now I have NEVER been to either city or even state.

So, I am looking at overall information on each area and found a comparison. Tulsa vs Indianapolis vs USA

Now, I would love to link the website I am looking at but I don't want to break any rules. HOWEVER, I read this and interpret I am not breaking rules :
Link to Quality Sources - Linking to news articles, blog posts, or web pages are great when it adds to a conversation. Additionally, linking to other BiggerPockets forums posts, articles, or blogs is highly encouraged. However, as we'll cover below, you cannot link to your own content. To link to a url in the forums, use either of the following short codes: [url] http://www.website.com/example [/url] or [url=http://www.website.com/example] Linkable Text [/url]

Seeing as this is not my site, I HOPE this is ok.
[url=https://www.bestplaces.net/com...[/url]

So I created a google sheet to quickly visualize where the money in each city lies.

https://docs.google.com/spread...

1. So what I did is make a spreadsheet that shows what 'rent rate' may be available based on income and number of residents at that income level. (rent rate set at 30% of gross income average)
   
   Now after putting the time into the spreadsheet I can see both cities are almost neck and neck. However, is this just showing me that these areas have a high level of lower-income households. Is this something I should actually pay attention to? Is this a waste of my time?
2. I can see that there are over 100K of the population making less that 15k in both cities and they are the largest segment in each city. I can also see, if I set tenant requirements to be 30% of their gross income, then $350 dollar rent is not something I can go after (unless I do section 8).
3. Is this important to know? Is this valuable information?
   
   

[Canesha Edwards]

@Allen Gross

Hey Allen-

My first piece of advice would be to visit the city your going to invest in at least once.

Now, in regards to your research, yes this is helpful information. It sounds like the markets you're considering could make great section 8 rentals. Take a look at the HUD Fair Market rents for that area. Section 8 tenants get a bad rep. There are a few bad apples, but that to be expected. However, most section 8 renters are hard working people who appreciate having a decent place to stay.

Now, if you don’t want to go the Section 8 route look for markets that have a higher population of residents making a higher income.

Also, you mentioned being older and being scared to take the plunge. Have you considered passively investing in a syndication? This may be a good option to consider.

Happy Investing!

Canesha