Rental Property advice for starters --

[Ad Johns]

Hi,
New to this board so first, thanks for having such a forum.
I'm not young anymore, and would like to enter the rental property market.
I have about $200,000 to invest. This is not my only savings, so this can go to rental properties.
Looking for a good source of first level advice; what I mean is, which cities I should look at first.

I am not sure yet where I will be residing, so it should be an easy manage from a distance property, or a place that will require a local managing agent. I once had a co-op in NY, that was managed from a distance as demand was very high, and complex took care of all regular issues; it had other problems though, such as board that decided to limit renting...
Factor like supply of potential tenants, average rents one can collect and the ability of tenants in that area to pay are what should drive that desired location.

I was always thinking that a nice college town will always have ample demand for rental units, but have no backing data.
I will much appreciate that type of advice: what cities should I put at the top of my list for starting to dig.
Kindly,
Al