Find suburb to start investing in Australia

[Lewis New]

Hi, 

I am looking to buy my first investment property. I live in Sydney and the prices are too high for me to afford to get into the market here so I want to look into other areas where I can get into the market. 

my plan is to renovate the property myself (as I am a tradesman) then rent it out.

What are they key things that you look for when deciding on an area to look into? 

is there any advice you would offer someone starting out?

would this plan generally work better for apartments or houses or is it more dependant on the area?

thank you for your help!