If the investor is looking for both appreciation and cash flow; they need to be looking at cities/markets with growth (population and jobs), along with a consistent decrease in crime (all over the past 2 decades). 

If you succeed in a big way, you will gain some friends and admirers. ( you’ll even have more friends if you pay for all the events, trips, and dinners.

I’m Arizona licensed and while I’m not an attorney or CPA, I’ve got a pretty wide network of investor-savvy agents and property mangrs who I trust.. folks who actually roll up their sleeves and dive into the trenches.The right guidance can help you identify stable neighborhoods in Austin where job growth still hums along nicely, or link you up to off-market multifamily properties in San Antonio that don’t get splashed across public listings.

That said, I think it’s impressive that you’re able to manage this with fewer accounts—hats off to you for making it work efficiently.For me, having accounts like income, operating expenses, marketing, and taxes gives each dollar a specific job.

Job Opportunities: The state's robust economy and business-friendly environment attract investors, but are other states catching up?

And in most cases, reading a receipt and knowing which property/my management company it is tied to (done automatically by separate accounts linking to my software), even if I don't do a very good job documenting, I have enough to go back and justify almost any expense.  

You can't deny the job and population growth, though.

Local furniture shop about 8 miles away did the woodwork out of Mahogany, really great job. 

I aim to allocate a small amount of funds toward a Roth IRA and a high-yield savings account (HYSA).My current job offers limited opportunities for overtime, so I’m exploring side work related to real estate, such as part-time property management or similar roles.

I think your real estate investing can be your second job.