Which city for rental property? Austin, Dallas or Charlotte?

[Suvarna Joshi]

Hi I am a newbie at investing in real estate and looking into buying a rental property that will generate positive cash flow plus have some appreciation prospects. I am looking at something around $250K. At this time I am looking at Dallas, Austin and Charlotte, NC markets, but not able to decide which one to zero on. I am not very familiar with Charlotte market but started looking into it since the property taxes are lower than Texas and also it has growing tech industry. Would love to hear your views about these markets. It will be extremely useful for me for focusing my search.

[Curtis Waters]

Being in Charlotte I have some bias.  Here is a list from Forbes - you might disagree with their criteria however.  I look for value and job growth.  Jobs drive continued rental demand.