@Luke Andersen Luke, in order to avoid the classic "analysis paralysis" I have found it best to really narrow down your REI goals then do some research from there.
1) Figure out what exactly it is that you are trying to achieve with REI (cash flow, rapidly growing equity, etc.)
2) Next, find your niche in the market (SFR, small MF, small commercial, industrial, etc.).
3) From there, you can use a good couple hours on Google to find maybe 4-5 markets that match your criteria.
4) Once you find these, try to dig into specific neighborhoods and find out crime rates, school zones, walking distances to places, etc. You can also find average rents for various housing layouts for each neighborhood and determine the price-to-rent ratio for each area.
5) Finally, once you have established a few areas that you may seem fit for your PERSONAL goals, its all about networking. Find local investors through BP and hop on calls with them. Talk to agents, lenders, property managers, contractors, etc. and find out the pro’s and cons of each market from people who actually do business there.
Once you’ve done all this, you should have a good understanding of what exactly you are looking for and where might be a good fit for YOU. The problem with asking everyone about what market to invest in is that it really depends on what matches YOUR goals. You could be hearing about a market that works fantastic for one investor, but their goals and situation will never exactly match yours. I recommend putting in some hours to narrow down what it is you want and going from there.
Hope this helps and if you would like to chat further, feel free to shoot me a PM!
