Vetting states for RE investing

[Wesley W.]

Hello All,

My wife and I are looking to relocate in about 5 years or so, and we'd like to move to a state that would positively affect establishing a RE buy-and-hold portfolio.

I realize that landlord-tenant laws is one element that would influence our relative success, but I also imagine there are others - such as taxes on income from real estate, property/zoning laws, small business laws, etc.

Since we aren't real estate investors (YET!), there are some aspects to the business that we don't even know we should be using to evaluate our potential move.

I guess what I'm asking is: what sort of things should we be looking at in choosing a state (realizing that within a state, things can vary widely - but we have to start somewhere).

Our intended destination is somewhere in the southeast, if that helps.

Thanks in advance!