Where to invest in real estate in the US in 2017?

[Mylene Bel]

Hi,

I own a condo apartment in Florida that I'm considering selling to invest in small properties (in B or C neighborhoods).

After taxes it would leave me with about $210K available, to which I could add up to $25K from my savings in order to reach a $235K budget.

For my new investment I'm looking for the right balance between Cash on cash return (monthly cash flow from tenants vs money invested) and value appreciation. COC ROI is a little more important to me though. 

So I've got two questions:

#1 - Should I sell and reinvest? 

My current apartment is estimated at $225K on Zillow. It is fully paid and rented at $1,700/month which gives me a monthly cash flow of $900 after deducing all expenses. It's located in a nice neighborhood of Fort Lauderdale (Victoria Park) where property values have increased a lot over the last few years but the market seems to be stabilizing right now. My COC ROI is 6,2%.

Do you think it's a good move to sell it and try to do better? Or should I keep it and hope for the market to keep rising?

My plan is to divide the money into several properties (two small SFH or maybe one MFH with 3 or 4 units). I was thinking buying two properties in the low $115Ks on high potential markets in Florida or elsewhere that I could rent for about $1,200 each (properties could be both in the same area or in two different states, I don't really mind).

I assume I would get a better cash flow and COC ROI than with my current property. But it's only an intuition so far.

#2 - If so, where should I reinvest? 

If you believe I'm thinking right, where in the US should I invest this money? What are the growing cities with the best/most stable rental market and the best market appreciation right now? I have identified Dallas, Orlando and Tampa as good choices, am I right? 

Also which type of property should I buy to expect a good balance between low maintenance cost and low HOA? My current condo taxes are high so I believe I should go for a single-family now.

I'm mostly considering SFHs but I just read about MFH on the BP forum and it seems interesting too, though I have no experience with that. I guess the maintenance and property management costs will be higher. I don't know if it's relevant to mention but I don't live in the US so in either case I'd need to find a property manager.

Thanks a lot for your answers!