New from Philadelphia suburbs

[Jared Lowman]

Hey gang.  First post here.  I'm in Montgomery County, PA outside of Philadelphia.  I've had an interest in becoming a landlord for quite some time and I think I've convinced my wife to move ahead with the idea though she is a little apprehensive.  We're interested mostly in buy and hold single family / small multifamily.  We had originally been thinking we'd try to find a property in close proximity to us (Oreland, Flourtown, Glenside, Abington, Ambler area) since we will be managing the property ourselves and we're first timers. However, I've seen recent posts here about how Philadelphia is the place to invest rather than the burbs. There are certain neighborhoods of Philadelphia that we have also considered and are not that much farther away (Chestnut HIll, Mt. Airy, Germantown, Manayunk, Roxborough).  Just wondering everyone's opinions on how far away a first investment property should be for first time landlords?  Thanks and looking forward  to networking and gathering as much information from other members here. BP seems like a great resource.