Where would you move?

[Diana B.]

Currently we live in a city with very high property values and we've been forced to invest from out of state (only buy and hold so far). I want to get into flipping homes, but wouldn't do that from out of state.  At last we have the option of moving wherever we want. We're looking for a state/city/area that has great (and affordable) potential for real estate but also gives us a great quality of life. We come from a very rainy place so we're looking for sunshine and warm weather (even year-round warm weather!). We currently live a 10 minute drive from the ocean, and that's hard to give up.

For quality of life, our first choice was California, but we don't have the capital to invest there right away.

So, here's the question we're currently faced with: If you could move anywhere in the country, where would you move? 

Criteria in order of importance:

1. Investment potential for a newbie flipper and Low ARV - we're starting with only $100-200K cash

3.  Sunshine and warm weather

4. If possible, less than an hour from water (lake/ocean)

Thanks!