How do you gather data to determine best market for you?

[Ben Phillips]

Hi BP community,

I live in San Diego and I am looking to buy my first RE investment, which will hopefully be a multiunit out of state, wherever has the best macroeconomic trends and best bang for your buck. That’s why I am posting this: I need your help. I am having a hard time figuring out how to go about researching and getting real, reliable data on macroeconomic trends and cap rates for all 50 states. I am currently looking into Texas for obvious reasons, but even that is still a dizzying task: deciding which county, city, neighborhood... I would appreciate anybody sharing with me ways that they do real bottom-up fundamental macroeconomic research on RE markets, and/or any state-by-state or even city-by-city cap rate charts. I am trying to get all the data I can so that I can guard myself against falling for confirmation bias, then, once I pick my ideal market, I will take my next steps. I would prefer any data, reports, trends and analytics over anecdotes. I appreciate your help greatly. Thank you!

- Ben