New Member Looking to invest in a Multi-family

[Philip Anderson]

I am a beginner looking for any advice on buying my first multi-family unit.  I would like to buy and hold for 5 years or so and possibly refi to buy another one in a couple years.  I have about 450k and looking to get my feet wet and would love it for any advice on good markets to jump into.  I live in California but do not want to invest here.  I have been looking at Cleveland and Lubbock but other than that I am just trying to figure it all out.  I need help on how to analyze specific localities.  Are there any resources for researching demographics of a specific area that would help?

I guess I need help determining how to locate properties to be able to crunch the numbers. I have been looking on loopnet but it seems like that is not the best spot to find good deals. Any help on how to figure out a local CAP rates for a specific area would be helpful.

I would also like to ask if there are different questions I should be asking to understand different markets as a first time investor in a market where I do not live or are not familiar with.  

I might be interested in a good recommendation for a partner as well.  I am good at crunching numbers and also bring some capital to the table.  I also have a LTR single family home with positive cash flow.  I am just looking to getting my foot in the door with a multi-family so I have some experience.

Thanks in advance!