Investing in a Smaller City

[Joshua Nawrocki]

Hello, I am brand new to Bigger Pockets and real estate investing and it is something that I would like to get into over the next few years (buying and holding). However, I was curious if people had any insight on investing in a smaller city? It seems like a lot of the discussion on BP focuses on large metro areas such as Houston, San Fran, etc. which I feel must be a much different game than in a smaller area. 

I currently live around Binghamton, NY and there is a population of under 200,000 people in the entire county. The two biggest industries here are going to be healthcare and there is a University that is growing pretty steadily. However, in general the population has a median household income of $45k. The advantage i think there is here is that the properties are lower in price (all though the taxes are relatively high in my opinion), most rents seem to average $350-$450 per room for students, most single family homes seem to average $800-900/month. 

I'm just curious on peoples thoughts on this. Is it going to be different to try and invest in an area like this compared to a large city? Are the rents too low to make good cash flow? Any insights, or places I could go for more information would be great! 

[Robert White]

@Joshua Nawrocki,

We have an active Real Estate Investment Group in the Binghamton area.  You just missed our last meeting (4th Tuesday of each month).

I'm tagging @Christopher Stanis to add you to the invite list for the next meeting.  It's a good spot to meet others in the area and get a feel for what is going on.