Feedback on Long-Term: Small Town Single and Multifamily C- Areas

[Tim Nethers]

I'm seeking feedback for how it turned out for investors who invested long-term in small town, lower income tertiary cities, such as former mining towns and manufacturing areas (C-D class). These areas tend to have fewer options for property management and contractors, lower rents, but also lower cost of entry. When you look back 10 years, all the properties were worth $5,000-15,000, and now are $35,000-60,000. While there has been appreciation over time, the majority of it occurred in 2020-2023. 

On numbers alone, capex and repair costs pose issues, as HVAC/Furnaces/Water Heaters/Roofs/Kitchens/Drywall on a $30,000 house and a $150,000 house are much the same - yet the $1,300 in rent goes much further than $750 in rent. 

For those of you who went this route, did you manage to stay or was the juice not worth the proverbial squeeze? With your experience, have the tenants posed a higher rate of issues? Would you do it again?  Did you find a tenant standard that assisted in avoiding headaches and tenant-caused repair costs?

Thanks in advance.