What city should I invest in?

[Spencer Wardwell]

Hi BiggerPockets,

I recently bought a home in LA -- it was $600K and I put 3.5% down with an FHA loan.

I live here and am breaking even, since I rent out the spare bedrooms to friends of mine.

I recently came into some money and have $100K to invest with.
I'd like to invest in an "up-and-coming" city like Detroit, Baltimore, Richmond, etc.
My goal would be to buy a fixer-upper and put 100% cash down, rehab it, then use it as a buy-and-hold investment for rental income, as well as long-term appreciation.

Any recommendations as to what cities I should look into?


Thanks!

[Jennifer Beadles]

@Spencer Wardwell I'm not sure I would consider Detroit an "up and coming" city. They lost over 1 million residents (60% of their population) in less than 10 years and they still have a long way to go. Crime is still high and while it may come back eventually, you'll have to ask yourself if you really want to risk your capital there. Baltimore is losing residents as well. 

When I look out of state (I'm in Seattle) one of the first things I look at is population changes. I want to see population increases over the last 5 years versus population declines. Population declines usually means lack of jobs or high crime so people just leave.

Personally, I like Indianapolis and Nashville. Nashville is more expensive than Indy, though I think it will have more future appreciation. I've built investing teams in both Nashville and Indy and am more than happy to share contacts with you if you're interested.