I live in California (Central Coast) and have built a 12-door portfolio in Detroit, which has been a great market for both cash flow and long-term potential.Detroit still offers properties well below the $150k mark, with strong rent-to-price ratios and a market that’s seeing growth in key areas.

Quote from @Rou Odab: Hello everyone,We bought this house, and we're living in it and renovating it.

I'd highly recommend house hacking in your local market since you're in one of the highest cost of living areas in the US, especially if you're renting currently and planning on staying in the area for 5-10 years.It sounds sexy to go out and invest out of state for your first property.

The FHA rules/regs (in particular the FHA self-sufficiency test) are applied the same across all markets, and I know for a fact that in rural communities across the country, and big cities that are not particularly desirable places to live, it's not a deal-breaker, I am not commenting on those areas. 

4o Hi Monty, I Live 15 minutes from the freeport area with building and flipping experience.

But this was an awesome opportunity for me because this is my first living situation where I will be on my own (and getting used to paying a rent/mortgage) but this will put my overall mortgage on a 400k house at roughly $2000 a month for the first year!

@Don Miller I live in fort myers beach.

I actually live Pinellas County.  

Living in top unit and renting out the bottom.

@Isaac TerryIn terms of it being worthwhile, just like most other markets out of state if the barrier or entry is too high where you live, the landlord laws are not favorable where you live, and you are looking for positive cashflow then Cleveland can be a good option.