@Ben Fraser I am wondering what is turning you off from Lansing. I do agree that people are not really looking at appreciation investment here, however the rental market is strong here because of the students in the area that do not want to pay the high prices of the east lansing rental market (i.e. graduate students/medical student). These make great renters if you do your diligence and find a good tenant (which is important in every market) Also, as far as your stats on the median income in for example Okemos, the median income is 75k but no one in that community that is making near the median income is actually renting (also property taxes are high)
I would personally stay out of the Okemos area and the Haslett area (most of my experience there is that renters there want to live with amenities like a workout room) and put my money east of the capitol and find students and politicians that need 1-2 year housing agreements.... I see the best places to invest along Michigan Ave because there is a legit approach to making this corridor a nice place to live and work.
On the AirBnB front, I did this for a year (Condo Hack). You can get rent every home football weekend and some basketball games. But in the long run, this isn't cash flowing over the course of the year. Summer is super slow and the week days are also. I think I had 5 renters all year during the weekdays. I had a bunch of people that wanted to come and stay for 3 months at a reduced rate (mostly international people working with the university) If that is an area you are willing to do there may be some money there. It just didn't work for me because I was also living in the condo at the time.
I do agree that this area is a great place for investing right now, and if we can pull in a few more major employers it will be even better.
